Hi! If you are reading this, thanks so much for giving this story a try! I've wanted to start fresh on a L/J story for a while but wanted to take a different view than my other two stories, and this is what I came up with!

First Year

"Are you sure they'll like me Sev?" Lily Evans asked nervously, pulling at her hair and rearranging her skirt for the fifth time.

"Of course, Lily. No one will care about your blood status," he said with a warm smile, grabbing her hand and attempting to comfort her for the twentieth time that week. Severus Snape and Lily Evans met back in their home town, and from the moment Severus realized that Lily Evans was a witch, he taught her all he could about their world.

"Well, well, well," came a new voice from the now open door. "Looks like we got a new couple on our hands, Sirius," drawled a rather obnoxious boy no older than the two sitting in the compartment. He had the messiest hair Lily Evans had ever seen and perfectly round glasses which hid some brilliant hazel eyes.

"Who are you then?" Severus asked the two newcomers with an edge in his voice; no one was going to poke fun at him and his Lily. Trying to reassure her, Severus grabbed her hand tighter.

"James Potter," said the first boy, pointing to himself, "and this here is Sirius…what's your last name Sirius?"

"Black," said the second boy.

"Blimey," James said with a sigh, "and you seemed alright."

"I'm nothing like those pureblood freaks I call family, and I'd appreciate it if you remembered that, James," Sirius said with a smirk.

"Knew I didn't judge character wrong," James said with a smile, high fiving Sirius before turning his attention back to the couple holding hands on the bench.

"And who are you two freaks then?" James asked.

"I'm Severus Snape and this is Lily Evans and we'd appreciate it if you left us alone."

"Want to be left alone do you?" Sirius questioned with a glint in his eye. "Have to get some kissing done?"

"Ohh!" James pretended to simper. "Severus and Lily sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes your ghoul of a child in a baby carriage!" James and Sirius broke down laughing until Lily finally stood up, pulling her hand out of Severus' grasp.

"Would you two just shut up! Severus is my friend and nothing more, that's gross to even say, now please leave our compartment before I punch you both in the face!"

James and Sirius looked at each other again before laughing even harder; but they did turn to leave the compartment. The young Lily Evans was too angry to nervous the slight slump in Severus' shoulders as he stared out at the scenery. Eventually Lily Evans sat down, every minute a minute closer to arriving to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

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"Now children," Professor Slughorn called from the front of the potions dungeon, "as it's Halloween, I only ask that you complete the Cure for Boils and then you may leave; no report necessary."

The first year Slytherins and Gryffindors cheered before being told to quiet down and get to work.

"Okay," James Potter muttered to Sirius and their new friends Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin after twenty minutes of working, "time for the plan to go into action."

"Go get her James," Sirius cheered in a whisper.

"Yeah James!" Peter said much louder, causing the other two boys to glare at him in annoyance, "Oh, sorry." He said, rather sheepish.

James stealthily made his way to the front of the room where a certain Lily Evans sat diligently over her potion. In his hand, James had a vial of flobberworm mucus. Quickly he went about charming the vials to land atop Lily Evans' cauldron before exploding. Not expecting any of this, Lily was left with a face full of mucus. The mucus that hadn't hit her went into her cauldron, causing her potion for boils to bubble up and hit her in the face. Boils began to sprout at an exponential rate.

Rolling on the floor laughing, James finally got out, "Happy Halloween, Evans!" Lily was paralyzed by embarrassment and the pain of the boils for a few moments before she forced herself to get up.

"I hate you James Potter!" she shouted, tears falling down her face as she ran out of the classroom. Severus Snape was no more than two seconds behind her as usual. He shot the three boys an evil look before continuing after Lily. Tears of merriment ran down the boys faces as Professor Slughorn, not for the first time, sighed realizing he had lost control of his classroom.

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"Lupin," Sirius said from outside the bathroom door, "you have to tell us. C'mon we're your friends."

"Well," Remus Lupin said, his nerves lodged in his throat, "you won't be for much longer when you realize what I am."

"Remus," James pleaded, coming to the door, "I swear to you on licorice wands and Bertie Botts that nothing you tell us could make us stop being friends with you."

"Seriously," Sirius said, unable to keep the giggle out of his voice after the pun he'd just made, "there is nothing you could say. Do you have six toes on that foot? Is that it?"

"Are your boogies purple and do they come out your bum?" James asked.

In spite of himself, Remus laughed at his friends jokes. For the last eight months these boys had made him feel included again, like he was normal. That wasn't something he could afford to lose.

"I wish it was any of those things," Remus said with a sigh. He could feel himself breaking down, wanting to tell them.

"Oh really now Remus, nothing could be worse than purple boogies. Really, they're boogies, and they're purple. Enough said."

"C'mon, Remus," Sirius tried one more time, "you all know what my family is like and you still accept me. We've all got things wrong with us and it makes us stronger as friends. Just tell us, you know you'll have to eventually."

Everything was silent for a few minutes as Remus worked up the courage to mutter the one word that had changed his life forever.

"Werewolf."

"What? What did you say?" James said from outside the door. Slowly, Remus opened the door.

"I said, 'werewolf'."

For a moment, all four boys sat silent. Finally, James spoke, "Oh. Well that's nothing but a little furry problem."

"I could hurt you. Aren't you three scared I'm dangerous?"

"You haven't hurt us yet, Remus," Peter said, "what's changed now that we know?"

"Nothing has changed, Remus, you are still our friend."

And that was the day Remus Lupin realized there were no better people in the world than Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter.

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