Chapter 1

"Coming Home"

As she sat in a bench in the middle of the entrance hall, Lily Evans found herself day dreaming. Lost in her thoughts as she usually was, she didn't notice the two black haired boys who were looking at her; one was in the left corner in front of her, and the other one was in the right corner behind her.

One of them, the one sitting in front of her, was pretending to read some Quidditch magazine while messing with his hair. Not that he needed it; quite frankly his hair was always a mess. But he looked good. Moreover, he knew he looked good. At any rate, what really was remarkable that September afternoon was the fact that James Oliver Potter hadn't thought about Lily Rosaline Evans for a whole morning, which was a new record for him – and he was pretty sure there was a saying about celebrating small victories and all. Seeing her now, for the first time in months really, was making him the tiniest bit anxious, although he'd never admit it. Saying that the last time they saw each other was an enormous fiasco was the understatement of the century. Not only had she clearly stated she'd rather go out with the giant squid than him, her best friend had called her a mudblood and that would definitely be a tough memory to forget. Yeah, that git was a whole different story. What Lily saw, at least before the end of last year, in Severus Snape that made her think he was worth having as a friend was a mystery for James.

At the other side of the entrance hall, Severus Snape sat behind his (ex?) best friend. He wanted to approach her, to beg for her forgiveness, although deep down he knew there was not anything left to say. She had made things pretty clear last June and she had not responded any of his 19 letters. He wondered for a while if she had read them or if she had throw them instantly to the rubbish bin. As he caught a glimpse of who was in front of Lily, Severus Snape had to suppress the sudden urge to go and curse somebody. He was right there, staring at her. James Potter, the prick that had all of this. If he hadn't pushed Severus to his very limit, he wouldn't have called Lily that. Just as Severus was thinking on practical ways of killing James, his slytherin friends entered the entrance hall.

He froze. He knew what would come after this. They were taking Lily's direction. Like he had only once before, Severus Snape felt the sudden urge to do two things at the exact same time; run and confront. He wanted to defend Lily, he truly wanted. But standing against his friends was too risky for him. Severus Snape then packed his things, and left towards the great hall. In the distance, however, he could still hear their teasing laughs.

"Well, well, well… but if it isn't little Lily Evans we have here!" mocked a tall, chubby one, Goyle, as he walked towards Lily.

"I'd rather be little than obese, thank you very much Goyle" Lily spitted.

"Careful there, you mudblood"

Lily was not afraid of Nathaniel Goyle. She could had him stunned before he could blink. It was the fact that he picked on her with that particular word that blurred all her rational senses.

"And I'd watch my mouth if I were you, mate" a very angry and serious James Potter growled.

Immediately, Nathaniel Goyle stepped back. It wasn't that he was afraid of James Potter alone (although quite truthfully, he knew for certain that he would lose in a duel against him) but what he and his other friends "The Marauders" or something like that would do to him if he hexed her. So just one quick glimpse at the venomous stare of James was enough to convince Goyle it was time to go to the Great Hall.

But it was a petite, blonde witch who spoke first.

"C'mon Nate, the sorting will start soon enough."

"Lucky you, Evans… You better watch out, there might not be a Potter next time we see each other."

Lily watched them as they disappeared into the crowd. Although not looking, she was positive James Potter was still staring at her, probably waiting for her to say something. She wasn't sure what she should say, because even if she was not angry at him (another first) the situation was pretty awkward. She had meant to apologize for the whole O.W.L thing by letter, but she didn't find the time or the words to describe exactly how she felt. Not only about the whole Severus thing, but what came afterwards. Sure, he was a stupid arrogant attention seeker, but he had defended her after all and he had been there for her… she probably wouldn't have snapped at him like that if Snape hadn't said… well, that was off topic. Yeah, she probably should just apologize to Potter and be done with it.

"So." She started. Man, this was going to be difficult. "I never really got the chance to uh… apologize to you about what happened on June."

"What?" He was sure taken by surprise.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you like that." She said rather quickly. "Not that you didn't deserved it a little bit, but I shouldn't had snapped at you like that, especially in front of all those people"

James Potter was used to receive many things from Lily Evans. It was so normal for her to turn him down, to yelled at him, to even occasionally punch him in the arm or the gut, that he hardly ever took offence any more. However, he was definitely not used to her apologizing. Yet there she was, although he was undoubtedly bothered by the fact that she had only addressed one part of what really happened.

"Uh—it's alright, apology accepted." He said looking on the opposite direction.

Lily was startled. For the first time in…well, quite a long period of time James Potter wasn't hitting on her; what's more—he was letting a perfect opportunity to hit on her pass. He ran a hand through his dark messy hair.

"You can't stop doing that can you?" She found herself saying.

"And you can't help but notice it, can you?"

"Well, it's not like if I were looking at you across the great hall, I'm talking to you".

"Yeah, well whatever."

Lily glared at him. Where did this sudden coldness towards her had come from? She blinked hard, and turned so he couldn't see her confusion.

"I'll see you around Potter."

And before he could say a word, she was gone.

(*)

Lily Evans hurried to sit in the Gryffindor table. She wanted to erase the memory of the last 20 minutes in her head. Truth to be told, she couldn't care less about what any of those slytherins thought. But they weren't just any slytherins, they were Sev's—Severus's friends. How was it possible he couldn't see the kind of people they were?

As Lily looked up, she saw a petite blonde hurry to sit next to her.

"Lily dear, what was all that about?" Asked Marlene Wilson.

"Nothing. Nathaniel Crabbe being a bloody dick" Lily answered as casually as she could.

"So nothing new, then" contributed a second blonde, although she was rather tall and her hair was absolutely straight.

"You would know about that Doe, I heard you almost hexed him near the lake…it would had been funny to see him fall" Marlene said with a laugh.

"Shame you didn't. I would have paid to see that" Lily sighed.

"He wanted to mess with Mary" she explained "After what Mulciber did to her last year? No way in hell was I letting any of those creeps get away with it"

"Did I heard my name?" asked a tall strawberry blonde girl now sitting in front of Lily.

"At least that's what I heard" said the girl that accompanied her, a rather petite brunette.

"Great, now that Mary and Emmeline are here, we're all set!"said Marlene quickly changing the subject.

"All set for what? We still have to wait to the Sorting Hat ceremony to begin" reminded her Lily.

"I wasn't talking about leaving, I was talking about girl chat" replied Marlene.

"Oh, because we're all so into that" whispered Dorcas.

"I haven't seen you guys all summer, you must have done something worth telling"

"Well we can't all be expected to vacation in France… two long months with gorgeous looking French guys" said Emmeline dreamily.

Marlene looked at her with an arched eyebrow."Oh, sure"

"Is it humanly possible that James Potter has turned any sexier?" The girls heard a Gryffindor third year said to the girl sitting beside her.

And there it was again. The same old argument; every single welcome feast since second year, the usual 'girl chats' across the great hall were about the Marauders; James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Difference was, at first only girls in their year set eyes on them. Later however, it seemed like they were every Hogwarts girl idea of the perfect date.

"I know what they mean" giggle Emmeline "And that hair"

"Oh, please not the chat about the hair" begged Lily.

"We know you hate him Lily dear and yes, he can be a bit of an… what were the exact words?" asked Marlene

"Arrogant toe rag?" helped Mary.

"Right, but you've got to admit… he has a killer body" Emmeline said

"That doesn't take the fact that he's a bully and stupid and selfish" Lily replied.

"I'd agree with Lily, Potter has an unnatural ability to be annoying… and well besides, if you are talking about what marauder has the best looks it would be Sirius " said Mary.

"He's even worse than Potter, if that is humanly possible" argued Lily.

"Sirius isn't all that bad, he's actually quite nice once you get to know him" said Marlene.

All the girls looked at Marlene at once.

"What?" she asked.

"If you want my opinion, the one who has improved more is definitely Remus Lupin" stated Dorcas, quickly changing the subject.

"Remus? He's nice" said Lily.

It wasn't true though, nice was too short for Remus; he was the sweetest guy ever. Lily had gotten fond of Remus last year, as they were both Gryffindor prefects and as such they spent a lot of time together.

"I would kill to spend long hours patrolling with him" sighed Dorcas.

"You would probably jump at the possibility to have sex with him" said Mary

"You would too!" replied the blonde.

"Shush, the sorting is about to begin" said Lily.

And just as like that, Albus Dumbledore pronounced the first words of his speech.

(**)

"FIRST YEARS, FOLLOW ME" Shouted Remus Lupin.

As Lily Evans walked with her partner to the Gryffindor common room, she remembered her previous talk with her friends. Truthfully, Remus had improved over the summer (all Marauders had) but he was still sweet and shy.

As soon as all the first year gryffindors had entered through the portrait, Remus gave a big sight and sat in a bench. Lily sat next to him

"Good to see you again" he said.

"You too! How was your summer?" she asked.

"Nothing really excited happened… went to James's house for a week… helped my dad with some stuff… nothing much…actually, it kind of sucked."

"Well it can't have been worse than my summer"

"Why's that?"

"Oh you know… it was kind of awkward bumping into Severus once in a while… and not to mention my sister going on and on about her new job"

"Did you talk to him?" Remus asked.

"No. He wrote me at least 15 letters. I couldn't even read them. It would feel wrong you know… to be his friend again." She answered after a long pause.

Remus looked at Lily with curiosity. She had always been so willing to forgive, so willing to think the best of everyone…except maybe Remus's best friends.

It had always been a kind of mystery, not only to Lily but to everyone in school, how Remus Lupin, prefect, star student, shy and humble, could be best friends with the Marauders. He was not the kind of guy who would pick on other students, not the kind of boy who'd brake a girl's heart without hesitation, not the kind of student who'd have detentions all weeks. Yet his best friends, and brothers to an extent, where exactly those kind of guys.

Lily had always known that Remus was not like the other boys. She could sense it in his loyal heart, his loving smile. She could really empathize with him up to some point as well. He sometimes felt like he didn't really belong there, to the outside world. She, as a muggle born, had felt plenty of times the killer glare of some blood elitists, reassuring her that no matter how good she was or how much she could give to society, she would never really belong there.

It was this…understanding of each other that really brought them together as friends. He was grateful for Lily, she made him smile like no other girl could. He could not see her as something more than a sister as she could not think of him that way either, but they still cared for each other deeply. That was the main reason why Remus couldn't stand seeing her like this.

"Last year" He started "Sirius committed a stupid mistake. A really big one. Don't get me wrong, it was hard to forgive him… for a time I thought it was impossible, that it was the end of the infamous Marauders and all."

"And then?"

"I realize… I realize that being with them was the one last thing keeping me sane and that as much as I would have liked to stay mad at him, I couldn't. In the end, I was no longer angry but I thought I should be, so I continued pretending but I knew that I had already forgiven, whether I wanted to or not. See, the thing about strong friendships is that you can't just break them off without terribly hurting yourself"

"Yeah, but Severus and I… we've been growing apart for a long time now. We weren't really friends at the end, we were just pretending something was there when there wasn't" Lily said.

As soon as the words left her mouth, Lily knew she had known this would eventually happen for a really long time. She had hopped Severus would choose her instead of the dark arts, but she knew he craved power above all, even above her.

"It must have been hard"

"It was…especially because I was what attached him to the bright side or whatever. I mean his friends for God's sake!"

"Well, he's into the dark—I mean the people he hangs out with are so—" he mumble.

"Don't." she cut him "I know he's into them. Only a blind person wouldn't see that. It's just… painful. I've known him since we were kids—really known him, and suddenly now his aspiration is to become a death eater and join Voldemort and I just—I just don't know where I lost him, when he stopped being him."

They were quiet for a few minutes.

"People change Lily but sometimes we wish they didn't so badly, we see them as they were and not as they are"

Lily chuckled.

"Wise words, my dear Remus"

He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Whenever Lils"

(***)

"What took you so long?" asked Sirius Black as his friend a fellow roommate, Remus Lupin entered their bedroom.

"Just talking to Lily" he answered.

"Evans?" asked James Potter with an arched eyebrow.

"The very same"

James, who had been lying in his bed, suddenly sat up. Lily Evans, the girl of his dreams and at the same time his very nightmare. Sirius Black, his best friend and brother in many ways, sighed as he never understood what the big deal was with the redhead. He always thought James was just a stubborn ass that seemed to think the sun came out just to greet Lily because she was hot -and yeah, she was pretty but there were prettier girls or at any rate girls that were just as pretty. Sirius never really considered James' crush seriously, he always thought it was more of a physical thing. But James knew the truth. At first, it may have started because she had a pretty face, but she was perfect in many ways. She was caring, sweet, mature and beautiful. Not to mention funny and her fiery temper. There was just so little James could do about his feelings for her. His now former feelings, as he had previously stated earlier that day.

"You know, Lily is looking quite fit" said Sirius.

James shot him a deathly look.

"What? Weren't you over her or something?" he asked.

"I am! It's just that you wouldn't want me to say the same thing about—"

"I want dessert. I'm going to the kitchens" Sirius suddenly said.

"You've just finish eating" said Peter Pettigrew.

"But I'm hungry already"

"Leave it Pete, Padfoot is apparently in dick mood"

With a wink, Sirius left the room.

James played with the ring in his finger. He closed his eyes and immediately the redhead's face was on his mind. It was just so… stunning the way she could have him drooling with just a glimpse of those emerald green eyes.

He didn't exactly remember when all this none sense had started. He knew it was somewhere between fourth and fifth year. He was so used to everyone worshiping the ground he walked, that when the petite redhead refused – with disgust even – his approaches, he couldn't help but be…impressed. He knew what being James Potter meant; good looks, money, popularity and talent. In any case, what did that smelly greasy git, Severus Snape, could have that James Potter lacked? Lily Evans was the only thing he had craved above everything else and she was also the one thing he could never get. Maybe Sirius was right, maybe it had been the chase all along and not so much the girl itself. However, a sour flavor in his throat told him otherwise. He sighed, for he knew that it was no good dwelling on those feelings. He almost smiled to himself, knowing that all the pain he had been through this summer had had a positive change in his maturity.

He watched curiously as Remus took out of his trunk a pack of paper and a quill.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm writing" He answered.

"Can figure as much. To whom? It's our first day"

"I promised my mom I'd write as soon as I came here… full moon is just one week and she gets really paranoid with all that"

"Full moon is in one week?" Peter asked suddenly."Cool"

"It's not cool for me, Peter" snapped Remus.

James blinked hard. It was not very likely of Remus to snap at someone, let alone Peter who right now looked as if he wanted to cry. The look in Remus's eyes soften, and James could not help but take pity on his friend's situation. Sure, his transformations had become tolerable, fun sometimes even, but deep inside he was still hunt by the fact that he was a werewolf.

"I'm sorry" Remus whispered.

"Me too" Peter answered.

"You're right, we should start planning it now that we have the time."

"If you don't feel like it, we can always do it later you know" James offered.

Remus sat down. He passed his hand through his light brown hair, a trend that was usually reserved for James and Sirius. What is more, Remus had always mocked them for it.

"Is something wrong?" Peter asked.

Remus's honey color eyes rested on the half moon.

"Just thinking"

"Well, you're obviously acting weird so spill it out" James said.

"It's nothing—It's just me being stupid"

The other two Marauders didn't looked down.

"I was talking to Lily" Remus started "and I—well you know all the trouble she's having with Snape and I told her I had a problem with Sirius last year and that I could relate to it and you… just—with the whole full moon thing—it just came to my mind."

They were silent for a long time. Each friendship has their own taboo, and the Marauders were no exception. Last May, Sirius had undoubtedly betrayed what they believed to be the most precious of secrets: Remus lycanthropy. It had not been planed, it had not been done to hurt him, but that didn't change the fact that it ended up in Severus Snape, their most hated enemy, knowing. Sirius's plan had even scared James, for it showed his brother's most savage, wild and cruel side.

"Moony you know Sirius regrets it to no end" said James quietly.

"I—I know, it's just that it came to my mind."Remus answered.

"Well, if it still counts I'm sorry" Peter mumbled

Remus chuckled and so did James. Peter could only be relieved to see the mood changing, becoming pleasant again.

(****)

Lily Evans sat down in the four poster bed. She sighed and fell back. Everything was just as it had been before, only that it truly was not. She thought about Severus, and how at this time last year they were laughing in the Great Hall.

"Lily sweetie can you help me out?" asked Emmeline.

"Sure Em" she answered "What's it?"

"I want to know which looks best on me" she picked up a school cardigan and a school jumper.

Lily looked at her, puzzled but before she could say anything, Dorcas burst in laughter.

"Seriously Em? SCHOOL CLOTHES? C'mon"

"I am serious! I was just asking for her point of view"

"Fine, the cardigan" said Lily rapidly, seeing it was heading to a discussion.

"Great" Emmeline smiled widely.

Dorcas rolled her eyes. It was so typical of Emmeline, worrying about stupid things like what to wear when you had a uniform. It was so weird how the five girls had come together as friends, seeing as they were so different from each other.

Lily for instance, was sweet and intelligent. She had a natural ability to communicate with others, always able to empathize with even the most lost of causes. Surely, that was why everyone liked Lily. It wasn't because she was a breathtaking beautiful model, although she was indeed very pretty; with thick copper locks that hung down to her waist and those big almond shaped emerald green eyes. However, she did have a very strong temper, which she occasionally used to defend herself and others. She was one of the best students in her year as well—only beaten by James Potter himself. It was no surprise to anyone that she had been made prefect, just as it was expected to be the one that became Head Girl next year.

Dorcas on the other hand, was what people would call a liberal. Not only did she despised all the pure blood fanatics, like her mother's side of the family, but she was also against any kind of discrimination—gender, sexual preference, species, or conditions. She was exactly the kind of girl who would attach herself to a tree just to avoid it from being knocked down. Dorcas was probably one of the most peculiar students Hogwarts had ever had the delight of meeting. The tall blonde was no doubtfully a free soul, and believed that monogamy was not to be force upon the human race.

Mary was a tall strawberry blonde girl. Truth to be told, many people would agree there wasn't much about her aside from the fact that she was rather pretty. She was not quite as charming as Lily or as intelligent as Marlene. Not quite as interesting as Dorcas. Not nearly as stunning as Emmeline. Mary was very shy. She would turn nervous if a random stranger approached her—or not even necessarily a stranger, but someone whom she had little contact on a daily basis. However there were sides of Mary unknown to almost the entire world but her four roommates. It was things such as her unbendable moral rules, her unconditional friendship, the way she never let anyone make her do something she didn't want that made her so special to her friends.

Marlene was a nice, smart, short blonde. Like Mary, though not as much, she was rather quite. However, there was something…unique about Marlene, which no one could quite figure out, that made everyone around her want to be friends with her immediately. She, just like Lily, possessed a natural ease with people. Although she didn't have Lily's temper at all, quite the opposite of it. Marlene was known for her everlasting patience. There was not much that people knew about her, just the basics; basically, her birth status, her house and the people she spent time with.

Finally, we have Emmeline, who was a gorgeous looking petite brunette. She was very open, never afraid of saying what how she felt. For many people, Emmeline Vance was a paradox herself. Sometimes she appeared shallow—vain even—worrying about a broken nail or bad-morning hair as if the world would come crashing down for it. However she was far from being stupid, in fact she did well in most of her classes and aspire to become an auror, precisely because of her hatred towards the dark arts. She could appear so delicate and feminine, yet she loved Quidditch and played seeker for Gryffindor. It was very appealing to many men how nobody—not even her best friends—could predict her next movement. It was the reason why, summed up with her good looks, she was one of Hogwarts most eligible bachelorettes.

So many people, including sometimes the girls themselves, wondered how was it possible that so different personalities could coexist in a same room, much more how were they together in the same small group. Lily always argued that it was better to have a group of people who each contributed differently to it. At any rate, all five girls were incredibly happy that they had found each other and it was in times of distress that they all had to remember this.

Lily looked at Dorcas, a thankful smile on her lips. The blonde rolled her eyes and with a laugh left the room towards the bathroom. To Lily's right, Marlene just gave Lily a wink and jumped to her feet.

"I think I'm in for some dessert" she said.

"You've just finished eating Mar" pointed out Mary.

"But Rossi promised me some chocolate chip cookies, and I'm not letting that opportunity pass"

"Rossi who?" asked Emmeline

"One of the house elves in the kitchens" explained Lily.

"Oh. The one that made the birthday cake for Mary's?"

"The very same."

"She's so sweet"

Marlene gave a wide smile and continued her way out of the bedroom.

(*****)

Sirius Black waited next to the kitchen door. Truthfully, he did not know exactly what he was doing there. He shouldn't be there, he knew that much. However there he was, nervously—although he would die before showing it—waiting for the petite blonde with whom he had spent almost three weeks in the Mediterranean coasts of France. The black haired boy still wasn't sure what to make out of her. She wasn't the kind of girl he was used to hang around with, not even remotely close. Sirius's usual female company were pretty girls, not precisely known by their intelligence, that like him had their hormones flying around. He was never rejected by a woman, probably because of his charming manners.

But there was something really odd about Marlene Wilson. He didn't want to woo her, or to get in her bed or to get her to do his homework. He didn't really want anything from her. Just to be around her. It was strange, but she had this sort of relaxing effect on him; he could be drowning in his own desperation, but one word of her could make him as docile as a baby. The weeks spent with his favorite cousin Andromeda, had been one of pure blissfulness yet the terrible news, one after the other, of his family's atrocious acts had had him buried in complete darkness. Worst so, regarding the fact that his best friends, which kept him from going insane all those years, were miles and miles away. He had been poison with the pain, until she decided she would have none of it, and came to his rescue.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she asked, surprising him.

He looked up, his grey eyes staring straight to her blue ones.

"They are worth a whole lot more"

She rolled her eyes, but held a smile.

"How's it been since we got here?"

"Good. I think. Although everything seems terribly different from previous years" He said.

It was true, although he could only tell her to an extent. First, last time they had come back, Sirius hadn't made the foolish decision of almost killing Severus Snape and even if it was all forgiven, coming back to the castle had been a reminder of what he had done. Remus had had a particularly harsh time facing the fact that he was betrayed by someone he would have sworn never would. Then there was James. James, who was the leader of the Marauders and the one always bringing laughs to their faces, had been hit hard this summer as well. In the last few days he hadn't smiled nearly half of what he usually smiled. He was lost in his thoughts for what seemed like hours. James, who hated silence, now seemed to crave it. Even Peter seemed different. Somehow sadder.

"I know what you're talking about. The atmosphere—it seems colder somehow." She whispered

"Considering we are in September?"

She gave him a soft punch in the arm

"Not literally. I don't know, I guess there are just a bunch of things going on for everyone that were not there when we left."

"Two months can be a long time" He said staring blankly at the window.