Author's Note: Just a random little one shot that popped in to my head. I hope you like it! Please don't forget to review and let me know what you think!

Through Her Eyes

Something was different.

Lily was sure of it. It was the beginning of her sixth year at Hogwarts and it was supposed to be just another year. Things had started off normally enough on the train when she was surrounded by her friends. But she had started to notice that something was off at the feast that first night. As the first years were Sorted, every time one was announced to be in Slytherin there came a very loud and obscene noise echoing through the Great Hall. No one could prove where it was coming from, but judging by the laughter coming from the far end of the Gryffindor table it was safe to assume the four sixth year boys were behind it. Well perhaps not Remus Lupin or Peter Pettigrew. But certainly James Potter or Sirius Black was to blame.

The self-proclaimed Marauders of Hogwarts were known for the pranks that they pulled around the school. This had been normal for the past six years. But something was different this year. They had never dared to disrupt the Sorting Ceremony before this year. And from there their pranks only seemed to get more reckless. Classes were disrupted on a regular basis. Fights were breaking out in the corridors. Several weeks into term and Potter and Black had already earned themselves a two week stint in detention.

So when Lily heard about a duel in the dungeons against a group of fifth year Slytherins that landed not only Black and Potter in detention but Remus – who was a prefect! – and Peter as well Lily felt like as a Gryffindor prefect she should say something. Unfortunately by the time she was retiring to her dormitory there was still no sign of the troublemakers.

It was late on a school night and most of the students had gone to bed. The Tower was quiet enough that Lily heard the portrait swing open and the loud entrance of the Marauders as they stumbled in laughing and carrying on as if none of them had a care in the world. Lily had thought that given the late hour they would quickly move up to their dormitory, but instead they seemed to remain in the common room. And as time went on they were far from quietly respecting others' need for sleep. Lily let it go on longer than she probably should have in order to avoid a late night confrontation. But after two hours the noise was finally getting the better of her, even if they had quieted down somewhat. It was almost midnight as she slid out of bed and grabbed a dressing gown, wrapping it around her tightly.

As she stormed down the stairs she heard voices floating up to meet her ears.

"Prongs, just sit still!" It was Remus' voice. He was suddenly speaking in an odd undertone.

"It's not my fault; I have a sugar high from those damn quills!" Potter shot back, also using the same undertone.

Lily emerged in the common room. "Would you lot keep it down, it's a school night!" she demanded immediately. A chorus of loud shushing sounds met her entrance and she stared between Remus and Potter – who, at a glance, surprisingly seemed to be the only two in the common room– in disbelief. "You're shushing me?"

"For Pete's sake, Evans, keep it down!" Potter said.

Lily stared at him. He couldn't be serious. This had to be some kind of joke. "You're the ones down here causing a ruckus."

Potter met her gaze with a very serious look that she hadn't expected. "We've been quiet for at least the last half hour," he pointed out calmly. "It's not our fault you're such a light sleeper. Not everyone is. Look, we haven't woken him. But your shrill voice surely will, so if you could please keep your voice down."

Lily was completely thrown off balance by this sudden role reversal. Wasn't she here to scold them for being too noisy? How did this get so turned around? It took her a moment to get her bearings. He had indicated one of the overstuffed armchairs behind him when he spoke. Lily stepped forward to get a look and found that Black was sprawled out in the chair with his legs dangling over on arm. He was fast asleep.

"Why's he sleeping down here?" Lily questioned, lowering her voice. "Why not go up to the dormitory?"

"We were trying to catch up on some homework," Remus explained. Lily noticed the textbooks and parchment scattered on the table in front of the chair that Black was asleep in. "He just drifted off a little bit ago. We haven't had the heart to move him yet."

"Detentions have put us a bit behind with all the homework," Potter added.

"Well whose fault is that?" Lily pointed out sharply.

Potter gave her a smile that only made her even angrier. "Just a bit of fun, Evans. What's the harm?"

"Dueling in the corridors is not 'just a bit of fun.'" Lily shot back, glaring at him. "I heard you lot sent two fifth years to the Hospital Wing." She turned her glare on Remus. "I've come to expect that kind of thing from those two buffoons, but Remus what were you thinking? You're a prefect, you're supposed to be setting a good example for the rest of the students in this school."

Remus sighed, looking a little guilty. "I know. Things got a little… out of hand."

"I can't possibly understand what could lead you to do something like that," Lily went on.

Potter snorted. "I'm guessing you don't know the whole story."

Lily glared at him. "No, I don't. But dueling in the corridors is never acceptable."

Potter shook his head as he sent her a pitying look. "You don't get it."

"Get what?" Lily demanded, her voice rising slightly. She glanced at the sleeping boy in the armchair before lowering her voice again. He looked so peaceful it would be a shame to wake him and have him jump in to the argument on Potter's side. "Get that you and Black feel the need to constantly feed your own egos by going after younger students or ganging up on those you deem to be weaker than you?"

Remus stepped forward, holding up his hands in a defensive manner. "Lily that's not exactly—"

"No," Potter cut him off angrily. "That's what she thinks of us, isn't it? Why sully that by giving her the facts of what actually happened. Wouldn't want her thinking that perhaps it wasn't even our fault and we were just protecting one of our own."

Lily crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh, I'm sure," she said sarcastically. "Whatever you need to say to justify yourself, huh Potter?"

"Lily, did you know that Regulus was among the Slytherins in the duel?" Remus asked carefully as Potter shot him a warning look.

Lily stared blankly for a moment. "Regulus?" She had to think for a minute before she could make the connection. "You mean Sirius' brother?" It was often easy to forget that Sirius even had a younger brother; they were never seen together and didn't even speak when they would pass each other in the corridors. Most of the time they acted like they were perfect strangers.

"Stupid git," Potter muttered.

"So what, was it sibling rivalry?" Lily questioned.

Potter rolled his eyes at that. "It's much more than just some silly childhood rivalry," he said flatly. There was something strange in his voice. Lily had never heard him sound so serious before. Normally he seemed so immature but all of a sudden it was like he had aged years in a matter of minutes. He sent a look of pity over to his sleeping friend. Clearly something was going on that Lily didn't know about. Suddenly she felt uncomfortable, like she had just stepped in on something very personal.

"What is it then?" Lily asked, his voice softening a bit without a conscious effort on her part.

"Sirius ran away from home over the summer," Potter said bluntly, meeting her eyes with his own troubled hazel eyes.

Lily's eyes widened at this. "But… why?" It wasn't a secret that Black didn't get on with his parents. He had received several Howlers from them over the years about what a disappointment they thought him to be. But running away from home just seemed so extreme.

"His parents practically drove him out of the house," James said, anger creeping back in to his voice, though it was not directed at her this time. "His own mother sent a curse at him, throwing him up against a wall and giving him a concussion. He packed up and left that night."

Lily suddenly felt very cold. "Why would a parent do that to their own child?"

"Because he doesn't buy into their pureblooded mania," Remus interjected. "Because he associates with people who aren't pureblood. People like me." His voice was bitter. Obviously it was something that had come up recently. Lily suddenly realized that within the Marauders, Remus was the only one who was not pureblooded as his mother was a Muggle. He sighed as he looked over at Potter. "I have a feeling this kind of thing has been going on for years. He just never wanted to say anything about it."

Potter nodded solemnly, his features grim. "I expect you're right."

Lily felt the air suddenly leave her lungs. "You… you think his parents are abusive?" She had just assumed the curse had been a minor loss of control from Black's mother. But now she was afraid that wasn't the case.

Potter rolled his eyes at her. "Well he turned up around midnight on my doorstep over the summer a bloody mess because of his mother. So I'd say yeah, that's a pretty safe bet, Evans. The only question is how long has this been going on."

Lily looked over at Sirius again. He looked so much younger as he slept. He had a slight frown on his face and his chest gently rose and fell with each breath. "I can't believe that," she said quietly. "You'd never guess it the way he acts."

"It's how he copes," Potter explained. "He makes a big joke out of everything."

"If he ran away how is he going to support himself?" Lily asked, turning back to look at Potter. "Where is he going to go during the summer holiday?"

"He's going to live with me at my parents' house," Potter said casually, as if that weren't even close to the issue at hand.

"I pity your parents," Lily said sarcastically before she could stop herself.

While Potter gave her a surprised look, Remus laughed a little too loudly at that, causing Black to shift in his sleep. They all turned to look at him, but he settled again and continued sleeping.

"He's exhausted," Potter murmured to himself as if he had forgotten anyone else was in the room with him as he watched over his friend. "I don't think he's gotten a full night's sleep since he ran away. That confrontation with Regulus just took anything he had left out of him."

"What happened?" Lily asked curiously.

"Sirius is worried about him," Remus said. "He's going down a dark path. He tried to talk to him in the dungeons earlier today but he wouldn't even listen. He and his friends attacked Sirius. That's when the rest of us jumped in."

Lily felt a little guilty at this point for being so accusatory over what had happened. Potter had been right, she hadn't understood. "Down a dark path…" she repeated slowly. "What does that mean?"

"Sirius' parents are sympathizers with Voldemort," Remus said, sounding worn. "He's afraid they are going to push his brother to be a Death Eater."

Lily gasped at that. She had known that Black's parents didn't like wizards who weren't pureblooded, but she hadn't known just how extreme their beliefs had been until this moment. The name Voldemort was often whispered in the corridors of their school and they all knew what he stood for. Just over this past summer his campaign had become particularly violent as he and his followers – known as Death Eaters – murdered an entire halfblooded family as well as a handful of Muggleborn witches and wizards.

"He wouldn't be the first in the family to join the Death Eaters either," Potter said bitterly. "Several of his cousins have already joined." He crossed his arms over his chest and feeling uncomfortable that he was mirroring her Lily dropped her arms back to her sides. "His mother basically told Sirius that if he wanted to stay a part of the family he had to join the Death Eaters."

"That's so cruel," Lily whispered. As much as she didn't like Black most of the time there was no way that she'd ever believe he could be a Death Eater. She paused, finally putting the pieces together. "I suppose that's why he's been acting out so much this year."

Potter nodded. "He needed to blow off some steam. If nothing else we could help him do that." He suddenly sounded exhausted. Lily looked at him closely, suddenly noticing the bags under his eyes that were partially hidden by his glasses. It seemed it wasn't just Black who wasn't getting much sleep.

Remus seemed to take notice of the sudden shift. "We should probably get him upstairs," he pointed out. "We need to get some sleep too."

Potter sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I just hate to wake him."

"Well if he sleeps all night down here like that he's not going to be able to move in the morning," Remus pointed it.

Potter nodded though he still looked reluctant. "I know."

As Potter walked forward Lily took a step back away from the scene. She felt oddly intrusive as she watched the careful way Potter tried to rouse Black from his sleep. He knelt down next to the chair and reached out, gently taking his shoulder as he shook it. Even with how careful Potter was being, after just a few moments Black woke very suddenly, his eyes flying open and his whole body tensing. Lily could see fear in his features. In the six years she had known Sirius Black she had never seen him look afraid until this moment.

"It's okay, Padfoot, it's all right," Potter assured him with a surprising amount of kindness in his voice. Black's eyes focused on where Potter knelt and he seemed to instantly relax. "Come on, it's getting late. Let's head upstairs."

Black mumbled what could be assumed to be some kind of agreement as he slowly pulled himself up out of the overstuffed armchair. He stumbled slightly, his body still heavy with exhaustion. Potter stood and placed a hand on his shoulder as he steered him in the direction of the staircase that led up to their dormitory. As they walked Black didn't even spare Lily a glance, seemingly unaware that she was even in the room. Lily couldn't help but stare as Potter helped Black up the stairs and the two disappeared from sight.

"Lily? Are you alright?"

Lily jumped. She had almost forgotten that Remus was still there. She turned to face him and took a deep breath. "I just wasn't expecting all this when I came down here," she told him, her voice sounding a bit unsteady.

Remus nodded seriously as he frowned. "I know what you mean. This whole year things have been… tense. To put it lightly anyway."

"I can't believe Black has lived with people like that all these years," Lily said, pulling her dressing gown tighter around her as she shivered slightly. No child should have to suffer such cruelty from their own parents.

"They didn't take him leaving well either," Remus said flatly. "The next day his father showed up at James' house and tried to make Sirius go back with him. I heard James almost cursed him himself before his father intervened."

"He did?" Lily asked, shocked.

Remus nodded. "James' father eventually convinced Mr. Black to leave, but until he's seventeen Sirius' parents could change their minds and force him to come back to their home. Things are going to be tense until we know for sure Sirius will never have to go back there. James took the Floo Network over to my house that night. I think he needed a chance to vent away from Sirius since he had already been through so much just in the past day. I've never seen him so angry."

"I can't believe Potter actually tried to attack Sirius' father," Lily murmured.

Remus looked at her and gave her a small smile, which seemed odd given the circumstances. "Why is that so surprising?"

"Potter putting himself in harm's way to protect someone else… that just doesn't seem like him," Lily admitted.

"It's more like him than you'd like to realize," Remus pointed out. "There isn't anything James wouldn't do to protect the people that he cares about." He stifled a yawn. "I should probably get to bed as well. I'm sorry we woke you, Lily."

"It's alright," Lily assured him. "Have a good night."

"You as well."

Lily watched as Remus followed the path Black and Potter had just taken up to their dormitory. She felt dizzy with the amount of information that had fallen on her tonight. It wasn't at all what she had expected when she had come down here with the intention of scolding a group of troublemakers. But suddenly she could see these boys in a different light. There was more depth to them then she had imagined. She would have never in her life have imagined Sirius Black to be an abused child. He always seemed so confident and full of himself. And suddenly she couldn't help but picture James Potter as a father figure, the way he had gently woken his friend and assured him that he was safe still fresh in his mind's eye. But she quickly brushed that particular thought away. That was just crazy. Wasn't it?

The burden of all this knowledge was weighing down on her as Lily finally started back up toward her dormitory. It wasn't just these boys she had learned more about tonight. The world was changing. In a world where a teenaged son could be kicked out of his own home by his parents for not believing pureblooded witches and wizards were far superior than others, a man like the likes of Voldemort could thrive. This gave her a foreboding feeling of foreshadowing of future events. What if he continued to gain Followers? What did that mean for those who did not share those beliefs? Or for those like Lily and Remus who were not from pureblooded families. It was a terrifying thought.

As Lily climbed back in to bed she suddenly felt wide away. Sleep would elude her that night as there were too many questions now buzzing in her head.

Something was indeed different. The world was changing. Some things were becoming clearer while other things were more convoluted. And the rise of a dark wizard would soon cause everyone to question everything.

But that night a teenage girl began to think a boy that she once despised was much more mature than he used to be. And perhaps he was even cute. And that thought started all of them on a path that would someday change everything.