A/N : I haven't done this kind of writing (i.e fiction) in a long time, so please forgive me if my writing style is not up to scratch. I just re-read the fics I wrote more than a couple of years ago and boy did I suck. On the other hand, reading and reviewing will help me get better, so I hope you will enjoy this story which I am very determined to complete, and hope you will review at the end of this chapter, just a prologue that I wrote while trying to cram for my last few A level papers, which is joyfully next week. So, with that, hop in and enjoy!

Prologue: Welcome To My Life, by James Potter

It was dark, quiet, and all the clichéd adjectives one can think of would apply to such a stormy night. Checking my watch by the sliver of moonlight filtering in from the nearest window, I realised it was already ten past midnight. My partner and I stealthily crept forward, unflinching in our quest to reach our destination, our target, our pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and our Holy Grail, if you will.

I see it. Our objective, less than twenty steps away. In our excitement me and my partner probably made more noise than was prudent...

Which, in hindsight, led to our eventual failure to reach our objective.

"Who's there?" A distinctly female and very pleasing (to me) voice called out. Sirius groaned under the cloak, which must have been disturbing to the two dark figures in front of us, discernable by the torchlight flickering off the walls. Imagine a disembodied groan coming from the seemingly empty space in the dim hallway of a creepy, dingy old castle full of ghosts. (As a matter of fact Hogwarts is cleaned so well by the house elves it is hardly dingy or old despite being a thousand years old, and the ghosts are in fact very friendly, but indulge me in my dramatics.)

"Come on out, Sirius. And I know you're there too James." Damn that Remus Lupin. Best friends are supposed to be with you through thick and thin, good times and bad times, and cover up for you, especially if he is in a position of authority, are they not? (Not.) With a last wistful glance at the portrait of the fruit basket, behind which lay the wonders that came from the house elves' cooking (the said Holy Grail, mentioned above), I pulled off the invisibility cloak, and revealed me and my best mate to the two Gryffindor prefects I knew were standing in front of us. The first, recognisable by his taller frame, is my traitorous prefect of a friend, Remus Lupin, while the other gave an audible gasp (a common reaction when faced with as rare an object as an invisibility cloak) in the same pleasing voice. Someone finally had the presence of mind to light up his wand.

"So that's how you buggers managed to sneak around for so many years!" The voice continued, and the girl to whom the voice belonged to stepped into the beam of wandlight. This girl is Lily Evans,6th year Gryffindor prefect, is perfect in every way from head to toe and personality to academics, and is also the girl of my dreams.

How do I describe her in a way that does her justice? Her lustrous red hair, ending in curls just below her shoulder, her brilliant green eyes (currently glaring daggers at me but I still like them), that incredibly cute dimple that only shows up on the left side of her face when she smi- she is speaking. Past experience has taught me to listen.

"-ow could you even allow this kind of thing into the school when you are a PREFECT, Remus, do you even-"

Good. Her wrath, however briefly, and if I may add, however sexy it makes her, is for now very fortunately (for me, not poor Remy) directed at Moony, and fearless Gryffindor though I may be I assure any readers that having Lily Evans angry at you is no joke.

I am, as you may have noticed, James Potter, dashing and charming Captain as well as star Chaser of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, all round nice guy and popular bloke (according to myself and most girls I have come across), and also an arrogant toe rag, big headed dirt bag, and generally annoying, detestable and perverted jerk (according to ONE girl I have come across, *ahemLilyEvansahem* ). And unless you have been living under a rock for the past couple of years you would also have remembered my ridiculous (according to Sirius Black), stupid (Peter Pettigrew), and hopeless (Remus-sell-my-friends-down-the-river-Lupin) crush on said girl. Which would explain the sweaty palms, irregular heartbeat, and drool coming out of my mouth, except it doesn't. Because my...affection, for Lily Evans, is NOT a crush. Of course the last time I said that out loud, in the Marauders' (that's Sirius, Remus, Peter, and me) dorms, the results were disastrous. Sirius laughed so hard he fell off his bed and stayed on the floor rolling with laughter for a full five minutes, and Peter, who usually does what Sirius does, almost died of asphyxiation from laughing like Sirius, and even calm, composed, Remus had tears of mirth in his eyes while letting a couple of howls escape him (Thats probably from the inner werewolf in him. Creeps up on him at the worst of times.) Very unattractive, and very unlike the cool, steady Remus Lupin the rest of the school is used to. Needless to say, I was highly insulted and more than a little miffed, but as usual when it comes to my feelings, do they care? NO.

World-class mates I have. Wouldn't replace them for the world. (Again, not.)

Going by my previous assumption that you have NOT been living under a rock for the past couple of years, though for your health I would hope you would never have to, I think it would be unnessecsary to remind you of the spectacular and highly public failures I have had on what Sirius calls the "Lily-front", mostly due to my arrogant, pigheaded and prickish (so I've been told by Lily) self.

In my defence, (of course I would defend myself most vehemently, I am still, after all, a seventeen year old boy with hormones and such) I have tried to change. I really have. Really. I stopped running my hand through my hair every three seconds, I stopped asking the goddess-of-all-that-is-pure-and-holy-Lily-Evans out every single chance I got (man that was hard), and I have managed to ensure that the Marauder's pranks this year have been, as a rule, more funny than evil, all on the advice of one Remus Lupin, who, for a guy that has been single all through his Hogwarts career (not for his fan-girls' lack of trying, of course, cause he's so cute and mysterious) is really a know-it-all guru on this sort of thing. But I digress. The point is, I'm willing to do anything to get this redhead, currently still yakking away, to pick me over the giant squid for a date. (She said she'd rather have ol' Squiddy when I asked her out last year, but Squiddy's a pal and so far he hasn't been a backstabbing, Lily-stealing jerk.) Speaking of Lily, she's still yelling at someone. Oh great, it's my turn! Hear my joy? (And again, not.)

"And YOU! Do you know what rules are? R-U-L-E-S? They exist for a rea-" Sounds like she saved her best for me. I guess it is kind of pathetic that I have to find joy in the fact that she reserved her worst vitriol to rain on me.

My stomach grumbles. I sigh in my mind, because doing it for real would be akin to commiting Lily-cide (where she kills me, not the other way round) and continue to pretend to listen to the girl of my dreams bitch about me to ME, while I starve to death and my best mates make absolutely NO attempt to help me out. (I swear Sirius even looks gleeful that I'm getting more of an earful than him.) Welcome, in short, to my life.

A/N: I realise there's tons of stuff in brackets in this chapter, but I had to try to introduce the main people as much as I could in the prologue. It'll be better in the next chapters. For now, review please! I know its not my best effort and to get to that, I need constructive criticism, and that's where you come in, see? Thanks in advance!