Lily Evans was overwhelmed. She had finally graduated from University, had a decent job (albeit low on the food chain), and was living with her best friend in a not too dingy flat. They had natural light, plenty of living space, and were walking distance from all the best pubs. But she also had student debt, no significant other each time her mother called to ask, and the company who was supposed to deliver her mattress was now 4 days late.

"Lil!" Marlene McKinnon, her best friend and flat mate, yelled from her bedroom, "Come help me pick out a dress for my date! I can't decide whether to go slutty or classy."

To Lily, this sounded like a very typical Marlene dilemma. It was a Thursday night, Lily was in sweatpants and an old t-shirt, and her hair was in a loose bun with pieces framing her face. She was carrying a glass of cheap red wine in one hand and cradling the phone in the other (calling the mattress company- again) when she walked into Marlene's room.

Marlene was going out for drinks with a bloke she met while shopping for toilet paper at the market the week before. He wasn't her usual type and therefore she was more nervous than she usually would be. She looked stunning in a simple cotton sundress due to the London summer heat and body that allowed her to wear dresses like that. Lily told her so. Marlene scoffed and kissed her friend on the cheek on her way out, reminding her to be safe while the mysterious mattress men were over. She didn't understand why they were coming at night any more than Lily did.

Right as Lily was about to sit down with her newest crime novel (and her glass of wine) she heard a loud thump outside her door. She was hoping it was just the mattress company but in lieu of her safety she grabbed whatever was closest to her (Marlene's 5 inch heels) and held it like a weapon as she opened the door.

What she saw was honestly nothing she could have expected. A tall, thin boy with mousy brown hair and watery eyes was lying underneath a slightly shorter boy with long dark hair. They appeared to be wrestling. Lily could not tell if the fight was real or not. A plump boy with blonde hair was leaning against the doorway watching with a bored expression on his face before he whipped out his phone and began typing rapidly.

Lily wondered if she was supposed to say anything or just watch herself. She wondered, that is, until a bloke that was lanky with wild dark hair and specks came sprinting out of nowhere to pull the fighting boys apart. This happened all within 3 minutes of Lily opening the door. Finally, the boy with the dark hair on the ground noticed her.

"Why do you look like you're going to attack me with that shoe?" he asked.

"Why are you getting in a fight outside of my flat?" She challenged.

"This is your flat?" the boy with glasses asked at the same time the other boy countered with, "Trying to get Remus to pay me back for dinner last night."

Looking back on it, Lily should have known this night was going to be disastrous from the very moment Marlene asked why their company was called "The Marauders". She wanted to know if they actually knew what the word meant and, if so, why they would name their company after it. Lily had said she would try to find out. The bloke with the glasses was grinning cheekily at her and he suddenly plucked the shoe from her hand. Before she could even have a chance to respond, he stuck out his hand and introduced himself as "James".

"You're 4 days late you know." She said, crossing her arms across her chest.

James hand fell limply to his side (the plump one sniggered at this). Lily tried to ignore the odd feeling in her stomach when she looked at this James and focus on the fact that they were, in fact, very late on delivery.

"We ran into some complications." He shrugged, as if challenging her.

"Seems like a good excuse to give a paying customer." She fired back.

The two boys who had been wrestling exchanged a look at this point. The taller one seemed to want to step in but was stopped by his mate (who was sporting a smirk on his handsome face). Lily idly wondered if they were gay.

"Look, I'm sure you weren't that inconvenienced-" he started to say and Lily felt the anger pool in her stomach before she interrupted him.

"I don't know what you do or do not think you're sure about, James," she hissed, "But I've had to cancel my plans every night and leave my boxes unopened in my room because I can't organize until my bed is here. I've had to sleep with my roommate and-"

"That's sort of hot." The shaggy dark haired boy said raising an eyebrow.

"No, it isn't," Lily snapped, "Look, I'm tired and I have work tomorrow and I would just really love to get my life together so can you please, please just give me my bed."

"Absolutely." The sandy haired one said before shooting his co-workers a weary glance and Lily visibly relaxed.

"We'll be up in a minute with it, alright?" James said, finally speaking after her angry speech.

Lily was too tired to retort so she just stalked back into the flat and left the door open. She made herself comfortable on the couch and was finally mentally into the plot of her book when she felt someone staring at her. It was the plump one, standing in her kitchen, looking unsure of himself.

"Can I help you?" Lily asked.

"Where do you want the bed to go?" he asked rather quickly, as if trying to cut off an angry response before it happened.

Lily just sighed and pointed to the nearest door, which happened to be her bedroom. He saluted her and went to inspect the room. Lily dearly hoped she hadn't left her bras or knickers out in her haste that morning to get to work. Besides, she hadn't gotten a dresser yet because she didn't know how big the bed would be, which brought her full circle.

Right as she was about to get back into her book, the tall sandy haired boy approached her. She decided then she would probably not get any reading done that night. She calmly put the bookmark on her page and closed the book.

"Lily," he said, "I'm Remus. I just thought you should know there is at least one sane person amongst us. I'm sorry about the late delivery, I can give you a discount if you want."

Lily studied this boy. He was a bit skinnier than she felt he should have been. He looked tired. He looked kind. But most of all, he looked sincere.

"Don't worry about it," she waved him off, "I just want it finished, yeah?"

"Right, thanks." He nodded and turned when he heard the voices of his friends in the hallway (arguing about how they should be carrying the mattress), "All the same, let me know if you change your mind, alright?"

Lily nodded. He turned to help his friends. She suddenly remembered the 4th boy was somewhere in her room and wondered what was taking him so long. When she walked in, he got nervous and jumped about a foot. Had he been snooping?

"Can I help you?" she asked coolly.

Lily had come to the conclusion that all 4 boys (with the exception of possibly Remus) were insane. But for some reason, of which she could have no hope of understanding, she rather liked them. And in the back of her mind she found herself hoping this would not be her only experience with them.

"You have a lot of books." He said pointing to the numerous stacks on the wall, waiting to be shelved (which brings us back to the waiting for the bed to organize).

"Right." She nodded, waiting for him to say what he wanted to say.

"Prongs has a lot of books."

"Sorry but who is Prongs?" she asked, confused.

"Oh!" he said and his face turned red, "I meant James. It's his nickname. Remus reads a lot for class but James reads for fun. It just reminded me of him."

Lily nodded. She was used to people being interested in her reading habits. For some reason, she hadn't expected James to read a lot. She mentally cursed herself for judging him so harshly when she didn't even know him. A small voice in the back of her mind whispered "yet".

"Peter!" James called from the main room (so his name was Peter), "We could use your help, mate. I don't care how pretty you think the bird is."

Peter scurried out and seemed to be cursing under his breath. Lily snorted unattractively. She leaned against the doorway and watched them struggle to fit the mattress from the hallway through the door into her flat. She noticed that if they turned it more to the right they would be fine. She didn't say anything.

Finally, they gave up. Peter was panting. Remus looked frustrated. James just looked determined. And the last boy (whose name she still didn't know) stared at her. He seemed to be looking through her, rather than at her.

"What are we doing wrong?" he finally asked.

"Turn it sideways." She said and bit her lip to keep from smiling.

All 4 boys cursed when they realized their obvious mistake. Lily was beginning to wonder why she hired them. But their reviews were so complimentary. And even so, they were making interesting company. They finally managed to get the mattress into her room when they remembered they left the bed stand in the truck. Remus and Peter went to fetch it and James and the other boy looked around.

"Am I your first customer?" she asked the two of them.

James grinned, "What gave us away?"

"Other than the fact you couldn't even figure out how to get the mattress in my flat?" she teased.

"If I buy you a beer will you give us a good review?" the other boy asked seriously.

"Are you trying to ask me out, uh-"

"Sirius. And no, you're not my type." He smirked.

Lily vaguely wondered if that was supposed to be an insult or if she should be glad she wasn't his type. What was this James' type though? She didn't miss the way he seemed annoyed when she asked Sirius that question. So, she wasn't the only party interested in the other.

"But wait," Lily said, remembering the conversation at hand, "You had pictures on your website and brilliant reviews." She thought hard for a moment and neither boy spoke, "Oh my God, you reviewed yourself didn't you?"

At that moment, Remus and Peter returned and the boys got to work. Lily got them all waters (which turned into beers quickly enough). She found herself enjoying the banter and teasing. They were fun. They seemed very much alive to her. Her chest hurt, a bit, when she realized they would be done and gone very soon. She had Marlene, yes, but sometimes she got a bit lonely (especially since she and Severus split paths years ago). Remus, Peter, and Sirius went into the kitchen for a break (they were woefully bad at this business, truthfully) while James continued to try and piece together the final part of her bed.

"Didn't take you for a Fitzgerald girl." James said to her, his glasses slipping down his nose.

She had never been attracted to a bloke with specs before. James was tall and easily confident. He was handsome in an unconventional way. He was smart and funny and obviously very loyal. He studied her and Lily liked the way he looked at her, as if she was more than just a girl in sweatpants on a Thursday night.

"So, you noticed my books too then?"

"Who else did?" he inquired.

"Peter. He said you liked to read for fun, too." She paused, "So you're clearly not a Fitzgerald person as well. Who do you fancy then? Hemingway?"

"He's just more masculine, right? His work is exciting. It makes you want to go to Africa and wrestle a lion." James said, the muscles in his arm pulsing as he screwed in another piece.

"But where's the romance in that?" she asked.

"I'm not looking for romance." James pointed out, sitting up to face her. She tried to keep her mind straight when she sat down next to him on the floor.

"That's rubbish. You read classics. You can't read classics and not appreciate romance." She argued.

"Lions, Evans! Masculine."

"How'd you know my last name?"

"Bill on the counter."

"Seems fair you should tell me yours then."

"Potter. James Potter."

"Ah, hell," Lily groaned, "Potter as in the Potter's that live in the largest mansion in the countryside? The Potter's that are the wealthiest family in London?

"'Fraid so," he said mournfully, "Mum and Dad are the best people I know, though, so don't be too judgmental."

"Tell me this then, why are you working for the city's most dismal mattress company?" she teased.

"We aren't that bad!" he protested, then gave up, "Alright, so were rubbish. But you don't seem to mind."

She smiled slightly, "I'm just too nice to do anything about it."

"You like us." He accused.

"Suppose it's true, but I don't know why I do. You really are awful."

"For cert," he laughed and then grew serious, "But think, had you not hired us awful boys, I couldn't do this."

Lily's heartbeat was going wild. Somehow she knew, from the moment he broke up Remus and Sirius' fight, she was going to end up doing this. They both closed their eyes and he pressed his lips to hers softly. She relaxed into the kiss. A moment later he broke apart from her and grinned at her crookedly.

"That's how real romance is done, Evans. Haven't you read the classics?"

The bed collapsed behind them.