Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Marauders.

I originally wrote this story in 2014 and now that HPFF has shut down, I decided to come back to this version and update it in 2018. Full disclosure though, I am also rereading the HP entire series to refresh my memory so I expect to do one chapter update a week or so.

The main plot of this fic will stay the same, but I want to make some minor character tweaks and clean up my writing. Additionally, I originally planned to make a sequel but I've got a James II/OC fic burning in my head so I'd rather make an epilogue for this to tie it all with a bow and flesh the other idea out into its own story.

Why am I doing these things? This story is extremely personal, since all of the OCs are actually me at different points of my life; some of the plot is directly pulled from things I've experienced. Writing this story helped pull me out of a lot of bad mental headspace and I want to honor that effort with a better artifact left behind now that I understand how helpful it was for my mood ;)

So with that in mind, please know that this story is very detailed and my take on the Marauders is different from most. So, if you start to read this fic and think "Wtf, why are the Marauders acting like that", hang tight. There is a method to my madness and I swear things connect back in the end. During this rewrite, I'm trying to guide this story closer to canon, but its main point is to flesh out the Marauders to explain why canon things eventually happened.

I am also not an English major and I don't have a beta so keep that in mind when you find grammar/capitalization/spelling mistakes ;) I am also American so please excuse my attempt to write UK slang, ha!

"I shot the sheriff but I didn't shoot no deputy, oh no!" – Bob Marley, 1973

For the first time in his life, James Potter was speechless.

He gulped and tugged at the collar of his white button down shirt as the rest of the Prefects stared at him with confused looks and waited for him to say something.

"Well," he finally began and then laughed anxiously. "Welcome to the first Prefects meeting of the year! I'm James Potter and I'm Head Boy."

His opening remarks were met with silence as the train clacked along the tracks beneath it. He took in a sharp breath and glanced out the window, wishing that he could jump into the lake that the Hogwarts Express was now passing. After exhaling slowly, he surveyed the crowd in front of him and hoped to find inspiration.

The younger Prefects looked attentive with eager smiles on their faces. However, most of the older students were not impressed; the Slytherins rolled their eyes and continued to look extremely bored, the Ravenclaws glared at him for taking a position that had been awarded to their house for the past five years, the Hufflepuffs had blank stares and James didn't even dare look over at Lily, who was practically blowing steam out of her ears next to him.

He clapped his hands, trying to be enthusiastic.

"Right, and this is Evans – I mean, L-Lily Evans. She's Head Girl this year … as you already know." He laughed nervously as nobody moved or said anything.

"Thank you, James," Lily seethed as she rose from her seat. "Now since you've never actually been to one of these meetings before, may I take over?"

James exhaled softly before adding a dejected, "Yeah sure." As Lily officially started the meeting by passing around the sign in scroll, he sat down and clasped his hands in his lap, hanging his head slightly.

The Seventh Year was used to failure – due to the many rejections from Lily – but in that moment, James felt extremely frustrated with himself. He was the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team and an excellent dueler. He could accomplish most things within minutes of learning them. He was supposed to be a great Head Boy without even trying, not one who forgot what to say and stuttered. Without realizing it, he ran a hand through his messy hair just as Lily turned around and glared at him while handing out the timetables for nightly patrols to one of the Prefects in the front row.

"Potter, have you even been listening this whole time? Your first shift is tonight after the sorting ceremony. You'll be with Marianne," she informed him. "I'll take the first years to the Tower because the thought of leaving you in charge of children is just horrifying."

The rest of the room snickered. Instead of grinning madly and somehow finding a way to ask her out, he stared back at Lily with a forlorn look in his face, accepting her cruel words without a response. Even though it felt like she was twisting a knife into his gut, he knew she was right.

Dumbledore really was off his rocker if he expected James to discipline younger students for breaking the rules. He just wasn't cut out to be in a position of responsibility. The Gryffindor thought he could just finesse the job and somehow be amazing at it but clearly, it was the one thing in life that he was a failure at. He gulped and blinked several times as the rest of the Prefects began to pack up their things.

However, for a brief second, James saw Lily's steely resolve break; her eyes softened while her rosy little lips formed a small "O" of surprise. Yet, a split second later, her cheeks matched her flaming red hair and she slammed down the last timetable on the desk in front of them.

"You better not lose this," she growled as she swung her bag onto her shoulder and swept past him to probably find the rest of the Gryffindor girls in their year. He let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding and looked up to see his partner for the night standing before him. The Prefect was a Seventh Year Ravenclaw and very petite. She wore her hair in a sophisticated dark brown bob that barely fell to the tops of her shoulders, framing her heart shaped face. She took off her black, cat eye reading glasses, inserted them back into their case, and then held out her hand.

"Marianne Minot, right?" James asked, returning her handshake and noting that her eyes were the exact same shade of green as Lily's. "You study with Moon – I mean Remus."

"It's actually pronounced without the t," she said smiling back. "Mi-know. Don't worry, you're not the only one who butchers it, most British people do." She waved her hand as her smile turned into a large grin. "Sometimes the French even get it wrong but I think that's just because I don't understand the Marseille accent. And yes, Remus and I studied extensively for our OWLs together and have ever since. He's an excellent academic companion."

"Oh believe me, I know. I basically copy – I mean, are you fully French or what?" James questioned as he tried to regain from his two slips. How stupid! To calm himself, he hastily began to file the timetable and other assorted blank pieces of paper into a folder he had casually bought in Diagon Alley, thinking it would help him stay organized. He ignored the loud crinkling sounds as he shut it and looked back up at Marianne.

"Half, but it's complicated," she responded with a warm smile. "My father's family is from England, but his great aunt married a Frenchmen. He got my Dad obsessed with the country, which is how he met my French mother." She quickly glanced down at her expensive gold watch and frowned slightly as she placed her large black tote on her shoulder. "I have to go meet someone but don't worry, we will get the chance to talk during our patrol. I'm a really good person to be stuck with. I've taught other Prefects French to pass the time!"

"Great," James laughed dejectedly as he ran his hand through his hair again, staring down at his red folder that somehow seemed to be taunting him. "Looking forward to it." He watched her move towards the exit behind him and sighed as he rose from his chair. All he wanted was one more year of fun with his best friends but after his poor performance during the meeting, he knew it was going to probably be the longest, most frustrating year of his life.

"Oh and James," said Marianne as she peeked her head around the doorway, "stop being so hard on yourself. You're going to be a great Head Boy, I know it. See you after the feast!" She smiled at him compassionately and James felt better.

Slightly.

Without his best friend, Sirius Black felt extremely bored.

After twiddling his thumbs for seven straight minutes, he quickly announced to the rest of the compartment that he needed to walk around the train for some excitement. His remark earned an eye roll from Remus and a jealous whine from Peter; both of them were aware of his intentions to rekindle his affair with Rose Smythe, a Seventh Year Ravenclaw who he had casually seen at the end of last term.

Sirius walked into the next train car and then realized he had forgotten his wand and pack of dungbombs in his school bag. He cursed and knew had to find Rose now, because even though it was the best way to cure his separation anxiety from James, pranking Severus Snape simply wasn't an option anymore.

As he glanced in several full compartments and failed to find the object of his desire, he opened the sliding glass door and made his way to the next car. However, upon entering, Sirius stopped in the middle of the hall and sniffed the air. It smelled like cigarette smoke, but with a hint of patchouli. That usually meant one thing.

"Gio," Sirius laughed to himself and looked at the compartment to his left; he could barely see the outline of the people moving within it. He reached out and tried to open the door, but it would not open. The clackering lock did, however, catch one occupants' attention and they waved their hand about to briefly clear the smoke and see who was outside.

"Sirius! You gave me a fright, you did!" his friend Giovanni Costa hissed as he quickly opened the door, letting the heavy grey tendrils stretch into the hallway, and pulled Sirius into the smoky compartment. The Gryffindor coughed a couple times and right away, Gio placed a cigarette in his hand.

"It's not what you think it is – we tried transfiguring it to smell like cigarettes and masking anything else with patchouli so the Prefects wouldn't bother us. Does it look like we're just lazy and not clearing the cigarette smoke in here? That's the goal, you see. We've cracked the window, just to be safe … "

Sirius nodded and took a drag of the cigarette, realizing immediately that it was not filled with tobacco.

"You sly Italian dog," Sirius grinned as smoke slowly crawled out of his nose. "Why am I not surprised?"

He handed the joint to the boy next to him and let out a loud, barking laugh; it brought him back to the first time that they had met. Sirius had been on a late night run to Hogsmeade to smuggle back some supplies from Zonkos when he literally ran into Gio, who was busy smuggling contraband of his own. Instead of beating each other senseless to protect their territory, they sat in the tunnel and shared a smoke, laughing at their circumstances. They never gave each other trouble after that, but they didn't often socialize outside of lessons.

"What can I say? I'm a criminal," Gio smirked as he lowered his black wayfarers onto his face to cover his squinting eyes. He looked around for two seconds and then snapped as he realized something. "Oh right, you've never formerly met the band, have you? We're just a group of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws just trying to make some good music in this shitty world. That's Ethan next to you." He motioned to the boy with shoulder length blonde hair who had taken the funny cigarette from Sirius. "He's our drummer. Next to him is our bassist, Gregory. Or Greg the Giant Ginger as we call him. Don't hog it all mate!"

"Fuck off, Gio," retorted Gregory after taking a puff and proceeded to pass it to the ebony Ravenclaw next to him. He took a drag and then passed it to his twin sister sitting across from him.

"Kieran and his sister, Kaia," Gio explained as the two siblings exhaled and giggled in unison. "They are similar in every way, 'cept he's the pianist and she sings with me on stage. And she can bang that tambourine, lemme tell you!"

Kaia swatted him playfully, muttered something incoherently, and handed him the joint.

"And you know me – singer and guitarist." He took a small drag before tapping the shoulder of the sleeping blonde sitting between him and Sirius. "Oi, Gemma! Wake up, you silly girl!"

The Hufflepuff sluggishly opened her bright red eyes and stared up at Sirius through her blunt cut fringe with a soft, lopsided smile.

"Hi," she said dreamily as she extended her hand out to him. Sirius grinned as he took her hand and shook it firmly, drinking in her sharp facial features and acid washed bell-bottoms. Although he vaguely knew the other band members from lessons over the years, he did not recognize her. She had to be younger than him.

As Gio placed the joint between Gemma's plump lips, she retracted her hand and Sirius suddenly felt a familiar rush of blood through his veins; even though she was stoned out of her mind, he found her to be exceptionally attractive. She removed the joint from her mouth and as she exhaled, she lazily sucked up the smoke from her mouth into her nose, perfecting the French inhale. Gemma then blew the remainder of the smoke into his face, lifted the roll towards him, and then nodded back to sleep.

"Quite the bunch you have here, Gio," Sirius barked as he took another drag and passed it to Ethan, keeping the smoking circle going as his eyes lingered on Gemma's pear shaped body. "You say you're a band?"

"We're called Tarantellegra," the lead singer replied as his head bobbed up and down and Ethan began to unknowingly tap out a beat with his fingertips. "After that crazy dancing hex. We mostly practice around the castle when we find breaks in the Prefects' schedules so they don't bust us. We've played a number of Hufflepuff parties but you Gryffindors never seem to come down from your Tower to join the rest of us."

"Oh they leave their fortress sometimes Gio. I've seen you around Ravenclaw get-togethers," Kieran smirked and his twin sister nodded in agreement. "Well not the night of - but definitely the next morning."

"Coming out of my dormitory!" Kaia exclaimed and then burst into a fit of giggles as her brother handed her the circling object. "Sorry man, Rose wasn't very discreet about your fling."

"No offense taken," Sirius said with a small smile as he put up his hands in a forgiving manner. As the joint circled around to Gio, he leaned back, crossed his legs, and began to form smoke rings by manipulating the shape of his mouth and pumping his Adam's apple. As the rest of the compartment looked at the rings reflected in the natural sunlight in awe, Sirius snuck another glance at Gemma before taking the object from Gio, who had decided to skip his sleeping friend.

As Sirius inhaled deeply, Ethan's finger tapping became louder and Greg mimed playing the bass. Soon, Kaia began tapping her tambourine against her thigh softly, her brother acted out playing the air piano, and Gio grinned and imitated his on stage guitar playing, banging his head along to the inaudible beat. Sirius could barely contain his laughter – they were all just stoned and silently playing in their heads for Merlin's sake – and he coughed harshly as he exhaled. After several seconds, he wiped a stray tear from his eye and that's when the idea hit him after he snuck one last glance at Gemma.

"What if I told you I had a gig for you lot?"

"You realize your logic doesn't make any sense," Remus Lupin sighed as he closed the carriage door behind him. "You knew we couldn't do our annual Sorting Feast prank because James is Head Boy but you decided to throw an illegal party on Saturday in his honor? That's tomorrow!"

"Oh come on, Moony," Sirius grinned as he took James into a playful chokehold and ruffled his jet-black hair. "You know they make us get to the Castle on a Friday so they can give the First Years time to adjust before classes start on Monday. The rest of us have nothing to do. Besides, look at Prongs! He's miserable!"

James muttered something in response but Sirius refused to let him go. The Head Boy attempted to regain his freedom, but his best friend anticipated his every move and maintained his dominance. The carriage started to move towards the Castle and Remus sighed as he pinched the exact spot between his two eyes in disgust. He loved his friends but sometimes they drove him up a bloody wall.

"Not only did you decide to throw a party but you invited a band to play. So we have to avoid the Prefects seeing us but now we have to avoid them hearing us as well," the werewolf groaned. The carriage hit a rock and the corresponding bump gave James the upper hand. With a triumphant cry, he broke Sirius' hold and pinned him against the carriage wall. Remus looked up at them through the stray sandy brown hairs that had fallen in his face.

"Unbelievable," he muttered.

"Look," James began but Sirius took the opportunity to strike back. He wiggled his limbs to break free but James slammed him harder into the wall behind him. "Hey, you stay put! You started this, Padfoot!" Sirius dramatically frowned in response as Peter giggled. Remus sighed again. "Your puppy dog eyes may work on the ladies, but I know your tricks, you dog! So stay! Good boy!"

"Can we please get back to the issue at hand?" Remus snapped, having enough of his best friends' antics. The two boys reluctantly ceased their fake wrestling match and returned to their normal sitting positions, both muttering apologies to their friend.

"Look, I can just tell Gio I was high," said Sirius as he looked out at the forest with a forlorn expression. "We can cancel the party."

"I never said we should cancel it," Remus responded, rolling his eyes. "I just said it was going to be harder to pull off, especially since James is a Head now." Immediately, he noticed the mischievous sparkle in his friends' eyes and he smirked and leaned back in his seat, crossing his legs.

"Mastermind Moony," Sirius beamed, "how do you propose we go about this then?"

"Just give me a second," Remus replied and immediately, Sirius attacked James and resumed their fight. Remus tuned out Sirius' grunts, James' yelps, and Peter's words of encouragement as he pulled out his wand and began to twirl it with his fingers. For some reason, the act always helped him think deviously.

While he unknowingly began to bite the inside of his cheek, Remus ran through a list of spells in his head. His first thought was to cloak an old classroom so that the Prefects couldn't find it but the logical side of his brain countered that the guests wouldn't be able to find it themselves. Pushing that problem aside, he focused on limiting the amount of people. Enlargement charms would solve the room capacity but too many guests increased the likelihood that they would get caught. Remus knew the power of word of mouth could potentially kill the party even before it began.

He let out a frustrated sigh and tried to solve the noise problem. Simple charms wouldn't be able to hold speaker amplification, but he saw no other way to mask to racket they would produce. Maybe they could ask the band to play acoustic. As he transferred his wand to his other hand to resume his twirling, Sirius crashed into James with such force that he fell onto the floor and spilled the contents of his pockets. Galleons, sugar quills, a rubber ball, dungbombs, a spare pair of glasses, Quidditch plays drawn on napkins, Muggle playing cards, and other assorted items littered the carriage.

"Merlin, James," Peter said in surprise as he picked up a chocolate frog and began to unwrap the foil, "what else do you carry around with you?" James shrugged as if to say he didn't actually know. As Remus watched his best friend collect his belongings and shove them back into his pockets, he spied a playing card that had landed on his shoe. He reached down and gazed at the Jack of Hearts as the face on the playing card grinned maniacally back at him.

"I've got it," he whispered as the plan began to form in his head. He glanced up at his friends who were staring back at him with confused expressions. "I've figured it out!"

"Enlighten us, Moony!" Peter squealed as he clapped his hands together.

"We use these playing cards as invitations," Remus began. Sirius began to open his mouth to speak but Remus held up a hand to quiet him. "Hear me out before you start criticizing my plan." He then picked up a playing card and gave it to each one of his friends; Sirius had the Queen of Diamonds, James had the Five of Clubs, Peter had the Eight of Hearts and Remus kept the Jack. With a wave of his wand, the werewolf cast a spell and soon, each of the cards began to replicate the Jack he held.

"So you're using the Protean Charm," James said quizzically. "How does that help us?"

"Because," Remus countered, "tomorrow we are going to walk around school and give playing cards to the people we want to invite. Actually Padfoot, I'm putting you in charge of that task." James groaned and collapsed in his seat, hating that he was missing out on all the fun just because he was in a position of power. "Once we've set up one of the empty classrooms – Wormtail, I'm putting you in charge of the noise cancelling charms – I will alter this Jack to say the location of the party. In order to get into the party, you have to slip the card under the door to enter. And of course, I'd cast a secret Slug Vomiting hex on the cards so if anyone tells, we'll know exactly who it is."

"Brilliant," Sirius grinned as he flicked his card at James, who hastily returned it to his pocket. "Your plans always are, Moony. You secret devil! I would have never thought of the Slug hex because well … who would dare tell on us? People always love our parties, they don't want them to be discovered and banned!"

"Never can be too cautious, especially with James this year," Remus smiled and then cracked his knuckles as he looked back at the Jack. Although he knew they were Muggle cards, he swore he saw the character wink back at him. His smile grew. "James, give me the rest of the cards in your pockets and let the master work."

As the four boys entered the Great Hall, Peter Pettigrew's stomach grumbled audibly; James and Sirius snickered and Remus sent him a knowing look as they took their seats at the long Gryffindor table with the rest of their house. Since he had spent the entire train ride with his best friends, Peter didn't have a chance to look around and size up the rest of the student body. His eyes scanned the Hall and he noticed several things - Theodore Edgecomb was holding hands with Daisy Girgish, Miranda Fletcher had cut off all of her red hair, and his girlfriend Aeryn Miller was barreling down the aisle with her arms wide open.

"Peter! Where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere, silly!" She enveloped him with a large hug and then slid her plump, curvy body into the open seat next to him. He snuck an arm around her waist and brushed some of her extremely curly blonde hair out of her round face. She was about to give him a quick kiss when she was interrupted.

"He's been with us, Aeryn," James replied as he leaned over and ruffled Peter's light brown hair. "You know how we like to steal him away from you."

"Oh, James," Aeryn pouted as she snuggled into Peter's shoulder, "I've known that for the past year! It's like I'm sharing him with another woman!"

"Don't say that," Peter said as he quickly tried to swat James' hand away from his head. "And cut it out, Prongs! Since we've been so busy with your party, I haven't seen Aeryn all day. Give me a moment, would you?" He leaned in to regain his stolen kiss but his girlfriend held up a finger to his lips.

"Party? What party?" she questioned, her brows furrowed.

"Wormtail!" Sirius groaned as he dramatically flopped onto the table. "You weren't supposed to tell anyone until we worked out all the kinks!"

"Sorry," Peter winced and glanced over at his girlfriend. Her cheeks began to redden and the boy knew this was not a good sign.

"Aeryn," he began, trying to regain her favor so he could finally get his kiss, "we are doing something secret, ok? Something all together and something secret. You cannot tell anyone what I just said. For now, there is no party. Remember all the times you've heard us say something about an upcoming prank? Well this is kind of like those times. You'll find out tomorrow, I promise." She huffed in response and crossed her arms over her large chest. Peter gave her a peck on the cheek and she smiled and forgave him easily.

"Merlin, I wish birds forgave me that quickly," Sirius grumbled as his grey eyes turned stormy. However, seconds later, they brightened as Peter noticed they zeroed in on Miranda's exposed thigh at the end of the Gryffindor table. Aeryn rolled her eyes and Peter tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his chest.

He had started dating Aeryn exactly a year ago, after they courted during the summer. She was the first girl to ever show interest in him and he decided to date her, since his parents had always expected him to see a girl and marry her after graduating like his perfect cousin Jeremy. Moreover, Aeryn was just so easy. Although she refused to have sex with him because she was waiting until marriage, she ignored his constant need for food, nights out during the Full Moon, and very poor grades in Transfiguration.

For Peter, the relationship was effortless and trouble-free. Besides, he liked to remind his three best friends that he was the only one with a steady relationship out of the bunch. It was the only way he was superior to all of them.

At the front of the room, Dumbledore tapped his wand against the stand in front of him. The noise in the room slowly bubbled down to a murmur as Peter's mouth began to salivate. He knew exactly what was coming.

"For those of you who are returning, welcome back. For those of you who have just seen the Castle for the first time, welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." The crowd clapped softly and Dumbledore opened his arms out to his sides. "But now is not the time for speeches. Dig in!"

Immediately, the Hall filled with all kinds of food and the four Marauders grabbed as much as they could. Peter ignored Aeryn's practically empty plate and instead of questioning why she wasn't eating, he took her portion of mashed potatoes and put it on his plate next to the roasted duck he had managed to get to before Sirius did. After scooping sauce onto his plate, he noticed the three rolls of bread he had grabbed earlier were missing. He looked up to see large breadcrumbs around James' mouth.

"Hey!" Peter exclaimed. "Now I won't get any!" James smiled and gulped his mouthful of bread.

"You snooze, you lose," he retorted and tried to snatch some of Remus' curried onions off of his plate. He was met with a slap on the hand as the werewolf guarded his food vigilantly. Peter chose a defensive position as he began to cut the meat on his plate. He was starving and looked forward to the Feast every year. He would not let any of his friends steal his food. He placed a piece of duck into his mouth and closed his eyes with pleasure. It was cooked to perfection. However, when he opened his eyes, he saw his pumpkin juice was half missing. Sirius wiped his mouth and tried to feign innocence as he glared at him.

As the other boys chortled at his misfortune, Peter suddenly felt annoyed. They were supposed to be his friends, not thieves! He pulled his plate closer to him and crouched over the remainder of his meal. As his eyes scanned back and forth much like his animagus, the boy couldn't help but let the negativity course through his veins. Maybe they weren't his friends. Maybe they just kept him around to eat his food and make fun of him. Or use him to bypass the Whomping Willow every Full Moon. Maybe he had bet on the wrong horse. Maybe he was meant for greater things.

Yet, as James launched an entire spoonful of gravy at Sirius, Peter felt a weight fall off his shoulders.

Maybe he was just over thinking things. Maybe he had to get a thicker skin.

Maybe.

Author's Note:

This was supposed to be a Sirius/OC romance but I decided that I wanted to write about all the boys and their significant others. I also wanted a fresh take on the Marauders … so instead of Peter being a complete wuss, I see him more like Peter Campbell from Mad Men. But I'll get to that later.

Please review, I'd love to hear from you!