Disclaimer: I only own the storyline, the characters and surrounding all belong to J.K. Rowling.

A/N: This is my first attempt at a long multi-chapter story. I'm not yet sure exactly how long it will be, I'll attempt to update regularly. Please leave any and all feedback, it's all very much appreciated.

The Changing Years

Chapter One

June 1978

A tall boy with untidy black hair strode purposefully towards the large lake situated within the sprawling grounds of Hogwarts. Despite it being the typically warm month of June there was an unnatural chill in the air which caused the boy to hug his billowing robes closer to his body. He could already spy four people waiting at his destination. A slim girl stood talking quietly to an equally slim boy, as she shook her head in emphatic agreement the sun caught the vibrant red of her hair and briefly shone a bright halo around her head. The slim boy had his hands thrust into the pockets of his robe as he spoke earnestly; although the boy looked as though one good wind would blow him away he seemed unconcerned by the cold. Two other boys were stood apart from the conversing couple. One appeared to have a handful of stones and was skimming them across the still water with alarming aggression, his black hair gleaming in the sun. The other boy was easily distinguishable from his companions as he was shorter than the other three and still had a distinct aura of puppy fat. He stood between the talking couple and solitary male as if unsure of what was expected of him and kept shuffling uncertainly from foot to foot.

As James Potter neared his four companions his eye couldn't help noticing the waving branches of a familiar tree in the distance. A wistful smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he remembered a host of good and bad memories and he felt his spirits lift a little as he approached his closest friends. It was the slim boy who noticed him first; Remus Lupin characteristically said nothing at the arrival of his friend but just smiled slightly and raised a hand. Remus had always been the quieter one out of the group, where the others would instantly engulf any friend in effusive welcomes designed to make the person feel like a member of long-lost family Remus would simply smile as though he was content just to see them again.



As Lily Evans realised that her companion wasn't giving her the level of attention she had been enjoying previously she looked around to see the source of his distraction. As her eyes fell on the tall scruffy-haired figure of James Potter her face spontaneously lit up and she offered him a warm smile. If James was feeling poetic he would say that when Lilly Evans smiled it chased the never-ending clouds away but as always he found himself completely without words. He felt himself smile back and was sure he probably looked as far as he could from cool but couldn't bring himself to care. He quickly sped up and opened his arms, marvelling at the girl who moulded herself to him and held on as though she wouldn't let go. For a moment James just closed his eyes and breathed in the fresh smell of his girlfriends' flame-coloured hair. After a minute he felt Lilly pull slightly away.

"Hi," She whispered, a smile playing around her lips.

"Hi," James whispered back fighting to keep a goofy smile at bay. Pulling his girl towards him again he planted a tender kiss on her forehead before reluctantly letting go. Remus was watching the two of them with an amused smile.

"If you've quite finished...?" He quirked one eyebrow then quickly dodged a friendly punch aimed towards his arm. Though meant in jest a friendly punch from James often meant a dead arm for the recipient – something Remus had learnt the hard way over the past seven years. The trio walked towards the lakes edge and the other two boys already awaiting them.

"Padfoot!" James let go of Lillys hand and rushed ahead, she watched with amusement as the two boys underwent their complicated greeting ritual which seemed to involve an inordinate amount of wrestling and the occasional slap. Peter Pettigrew sidled up beside the tall redhead and Remus and watched the two boys enviously, his watery eyes drinking in every detail. For his part Remus seemed extremely uninterested in his two laughing friends and was instead watching the giant squid swirl around in the lilies.

"Lily!" Sirius 'Padfoot' Black came striding confidently up, "Looking ravishing as ever." The handsome young man gave her a wink as he mock-bowed before her and gave her hand a very thorough kiss. Lily bit back a laugh as James frowned and opened his mouth, apparently ready to jump in and defend her honour, however Lily got there first:


"Such a charmer Black, I wish I could say the same about you though – you look absolutely awful. Living away from home is obviously disagreeing with you." Sirius let out a bark of laughter.

"Oh yes, I don't know how I'm coping without my daily dose of insults and violence – I'm wasting away." He said with the broad grin of someone who knew his life was going well. James laughed and clapped his friend on the shoulder – apparently forgiving his previous behaviour.

"Yup, I don't think a day goes by when Padfoot here doesn't pine and yearn for the comforts of home... evil portraits on the walls... a murderous house-elf patrolling the halls... constant scheming." James sat himself on the grass, closely followed by the other three, "to be honest I don't know why he doesn't just go back."

"Wellll," Sirius appeared to deliberate, "I would do but it would just be such an insult to my dear old Uncle Alphard – especially after getting blasted off the precious tapestry."

"Tapestry?" Lily raised her eyebrows in question. She'd already heard the story of Sirius' family, how it was steeped in dark arts and blood-mania. She'd seen Sirius return to Hogwarts from visits home practically shaking from the stress of biting his tongue until it had finally come to a head two summers ago and he'd fled to James' house for sanctuary. After that it hadn't been long before an Uncle showing a rare familial sympathy for his nephew's plight had come to the rescue with enough money for Sirius to live comfortably for a few years.

Sirius snorted although his eyes held little humour.

"The Black family tapestry – the entire Black family tree on show for everyone to see." He mindlessly picked up some stones and held them in his hand. "They leave it on the wall just to show everyone how pure their blood really is, anyone who doesn't fit in with the Black family values gets blasted off." He skimmed a stone across the water and watched it bounce dispassionately. "My cousin went the other year for marrying a muggle and I went for not upholding the reputation of the 'ancient and most noble house of Black'" He stated the last part with a humourless smile then softened at the sight of Lily's shocked expression. "It's really not that big a deal, I'm happy to be out of there. You'd be too if you had to put up with all their crap for the past 18 years, pure blood this and pure blood that, they'd have been trying to marry me off by now." James laughed out loud at this.



"Oh yes, a nice pure-blood marriage - maybe that will fix the family relations." He pretended to think for a minute. "Let's see... how about the Weasley's? Nice pure bloods, you can trace them back generations there's always Weasley's popping up all over the place."

Lily shared a bemused look with Remus as Sirius and James both fell about laughing. Despite having been a member of the wizarding community for the past 7 years she still keenly felt the moments where she became aware that she hadn't been born and bred a wizard like James or Sirius. Although she could perform as well as the best of them she still remained largely unaware of many of the complicated connections and undercurrents of wizarding society – although she was rapidly learning.

Meanwhile Sirius was wiping the tears from his eyes: "Oh yes the Weasley's I can just see that, only the biggest group of blood-traitors in the known wizarding world. I'd be almost tempted if they weren't all male or dotty." He snorted again, "I actually have a feeling that one of my distant, great ten times removed cousins was actually disowned for marrying a Weasley so maybe I wouldn't go for that idea – I'd prefer to be original." He threw his final stone in the water and relaxed back down on his elbows. The group lapsed into a comfortable silence for a moment before it was broken by a sigh from Lupin.

"I can't believe it's all over." He gazed pensively over the lake and brought his knees up to his chest. Peter nodded his head in agreement but said nothing. Remus looked over at his other two friends. "I expect you'll be all right Padfoot – and you Prongs. You've both got good places to go and you'll have done well on your exams."

"Well no offence Moony," James shot back, "But I don't think you're going to have done badly either."

"Especially with that revision timetable," Sirius snorted, "how many hours was it a day? 15?"

Remus smiled wistfully, "Yeah but that doesn't exactly matter for me now does it?"

"What do you mean?" Peter asked, fixing Lupin with a stare.



"He means that no-one's going to want to hire him." Sirius said shrewdly, "I thought you'd got over moping around on us." He chucked a small stone which bounced off Lupins knee. Remus shifted uneasily.

"Well it's all very well when I'm with you guys," He started, "But who's going to want to take a chance on me when they find out that I'm... that I have to... that I've got..."

"A furry little problem?" James supplied helpfully, Remus snorted with laughter. Lily shifted uncomfortably, she'd found out about Remus' Condition, as she liked to think of it, earlier in the year. Since then she had sought to further her understanding and nip any prejudices in the bud but she still found it a difficult subject to joke about without the many years of practise the Marauders had gone through.

"I wouldn't be able to keep it hidden." Remus carried on in an uncharacteristic burst of honesty, "I couldn't with you lot, besides there's laws keeping people like me from being a 'danger' to anyone else." His tone stayed light-hearted but he kept his eyes fixed on the frayed edges of his robes.

"You can still try though." James supplied, "There's nothing to stop you."

"I know," Lupin answered quietly, "but I'm starting to think I should just fight."

The group suddenly descended into a heavy silence, Lily hugged her knees tightly to her chest. They'd all heard the rumours and seen the disappearances in the papers. There were deadly whispers in the air of death and destruction and of a new dawn for wizarding kind. It gave Lilly the chills to watch the changes that were already beginning to occur even within the safety of Hogwarts itself. She'd already watched her closest childhood friend fall and become trapped within the dangerous shifting tide and it scared her more than she liked to admit.

"I've been thinking that too." It was Sirius who broke the silence, he glowered across the lake from under a heavy brow. "I've seen what their thinking and what their attitudes are." He clenched his fists firmly, "I used to sit at the table with her and listen to her go on about the need to ensure the pure line and the importance of wizard supremacy." His friends didn't need to ask who she was, many of the latest rumours coming in from around the country involved Bellatrix – it was said she was the closest servant of you-know-who.

"What about work?" Lily asked, more for something to say than a real desire to know. Sirius raised an amused eyebrow.

"Well what with good old Uncle Alphard I don't actually have much need for a job at the moment." He smirked, "and I'd much rather be out there teaching some of them a lesson."

"I feel the same." Lupin said dryly, "Although I'm sure I'll have to turn down so many wonderful job offers – maybe I could become a muggle shampoo model." The group all broke into laughter, it'd long been a running joke that the young werewolf's hair grew particularly thick and shiny around full moon. After accidently coming across a particular muggle advert James and Sirius had enjoyed giving Remus ample supplies of L'Oreal shampoo for each birthday and Christmas – with each card containing the immortal line "because you're worth it".

"What about you Prongs?" Peter burst out suddenly, shifting worriedly in his seat, "What are you going to do?" James leant forwards and clasped his hands together, staring across the water with a serious look on his face.

"Well, I don't need money I've got plenty of that." He shared a quick glance with Lily who gave him a reassuring smile. Since the death of his Father to natural causes earlier in the year James had slowly been taking over his family finances as his Mother grew weaker. The depth of his maturity had often stunned Lily as she'd watched James transition from a cocksure boy to a responsible man over the space of the last year. James sighed and continued. "I think you're right Remus, I could get a job without even thinking about it but what's the point if there's no future." Again James shared a glance with Lily who felt her heart skip in her chest. James gave her a quick smile, "I think I'd rather fight."

"Me too," Lily supplied quietly, she snaked her hand towards James only to find his palm meeting hers halfway. They entwined their hands together instinctively.

"What about you Wormtail?" Sirius broke the silence, "What are you going to do?" Peter glanced around uneasily at the other four.

"I guess if you guys are all going to then I'll fight too." He supplied. Lily frowned slightly at this but the other three Marauders stayed quiet, she supposed they were used to Peter's ways.

"I guess we should go pack." She eventually said, letting go of James' hand with reluctance. "The train's leaving soon." The other four murmured agreements and the group stood up collectively. Lily glanced at James and Sirius and sensed they had more they wanted to say to each other. She gently chivvied the other two into walking with her and left the two original Marauders behind.

James watched the girl he loved walk towards the castle with two of his best friends.

"So what do you think you'll do now?" Sirius asked, "With Lily I mean." James shifted uncomfortably.

"I don't know, ask her to come live with me I guess," He shot a glance at his best friend, "Maybe ask her for more than that." Sirius' brows shot up.

"What you mean...?" He trailed off as James nodded slowly, "Bloody hell." He let out a big gush of air. "Well, good luck. I mean if it's going to be anyone... if anyone's going to make it, it's going to be you two."

James smiled his thanks and the two friends slowly set off towards the castle.

"You know it's not going to be easy for you." Sirius broke the silence. James glanced towards his friend but his face was unreadable. "I mean because of your status." Sirius continued, "You're a pure-blood from a long line of pure bloods."

"Yeah... so." James looked at his feet.

"So, he's going to want you." Sirius suddenly caught James' eye, "He's going to try and get you on-side." James' jaw set.

"I'd like to see him try, I'm not like them." He said with venom in his voice, "You know, Avery, Wilkes, Snivellus." The last name was said with pure hate, "I'd rather die than be like them, I don't care what he offers."

"I know mate," Sirius spoke calmly, "but you have to be careful. You know what I mean – she's muggle-born. Now it doesn't matter to you and it doesn't matter to me but there are people out there who it will matter to and you don't want to attract their attention."

"I won't." James' eyes were set on the red hair disappearing through the doors of Hogwarts. "I'd die before letting any one of them harm a single hair on her head." Sirius looked across at the conviction in his friends voice.

"We all would," He clapped a friendly hand on James' shoulder, "let's just hope none of us ever have to." With that the two friends walked towards their final moments in the dorm they'd shared for the last seven years and their new lives.

End of Chapter One