Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters and environments belong to the amazing J K Rowling. OCs belong to me.

Rated: T

Padfoot & Knox

Setting

James Potter was showing off. Again. Everyone knew it was all for Lily Evans, who as fate would have it, was always least impressed if not extremely annoyed by his antics. Not one person in the entire school, including James himself, could quite understand why. He was smart, undoubtedly popular, funny, very attractive, and was always surrounded by a group of friends who were very popular themselves. Well, at least one person among them was anyway. And that was enough to rile up the entire school – for James Potter's best friend was Sirius Black.

Sirius was almost, if not more than popular, than James because of his unbelievable good looks, top grades, and a rather unpleasant personality that appealed to the female population at Hogwarts. The other two friends in the group were Remus Lupin, a kind, generous person in general who got along with everyone, and a short, rotund little boy called Peter Pettigrew.

They formed an unlikely group but were the thickest of friends. And it was clearly visible to everyone at Hogwarts.

But the fact still remained that – as James and Sirius were trouble-makers of the worst kind, the people they wanted to impress did not find any of their antics amusing. Therefore, it always seemed like a lost cause.

James had always been very vocal about his intentions to Lily. And Lily had been very vocal in her rejection of him. But that didn't stop James from trying again – apparently, his personal motto was – try and try again until you succeed. It was no secret that James Potter fancied Lily Evans, that there isn't anything he wouldn't do to get her to go out with him. Everybody knew.

However, what was a secret was that Sirius, too, had a special someone. But James was the only one to know about it. Not that he heard those exact words from Sirius or that Sirius had actually talked to him about the matter. Sirius had not so much as pronounced her name to him. It was just one of those things amongst friends; James just knew how much Sirius liked this particular girl, who was best friends with his dear Lily.

Rachel Knox was her name; a tall, blonde haired, blue-eyed beauty who, in his case like Lily (sadly), couldn't care less about Sirius Black. Sirius seemed to be denying it to himself for some time, but James knew it hurt him to a certain degree. Well, he should know, it hurt him every time Lily rejected him and she always managed to reject him in the harshest manner.

The case of Sirius and Rachel, however, was drastically different.

During their first ever journey in the Hogwarts Express, Lily and her friend Severus Snape, another first year who was friends with Lily since before Hogwarts, had rushed out of the compartment which they had initially shared with James, Sirius and a few other rowdy boys who were teasing her and Snape, and had found refuge in another compartment, which had only three other first year students.

One of them was Rachel Knox. When Lily first met Rachel, she was very much surprised. There was an air of confidence about Rachel that Lily had lacked. At that time, Rachel's golden-blonde hair was extremely curly, and since it only fell to her shoulders, made her face look small while her head looked a tad too big for her small body. But she hardly seemed bothered by it, which Lily liked immediately, brushing off Snape's snort the second he laid eyes on her. Lily liked her from the start and gladly opted to sit next to Rachel.

Already sharing the compartment with Rachel were two boys: Castor Greaves and Howard Bixby. Castor Greaves was a tall, lanky boy with perpetually ruffled looking dark brown hair. Howard Bixby was slightly shorter than Castor in height and had sandy blond hair. Rachel seemed to be having a great time with both of them, even before the impromptu arrival of Lily and Snape.

By the time the Hogwarts Express reached the school, they had become fast friends, excluding Snape who would rather have spent his time with Lily alone. Lily got along well with Castor and Howard, and she especially liked Rachel. And Rachel in turn liked her, very much.

A short while later, all the first years were gathered in the Great Hall, waiting nervously to be sorted into their respective houses. Here, Snape was separated from Lily when the Sorting Hat placed him in Slytherin House while Lily was reunited with the three from the train in Gryffindor House. From then on, Lily, Rachel, Castor and Howard had become inseparable, much like James and Sirius; Remus and Peter joined in later on.

As young eleven year olds, the first year at Hogwarts had been about self-discovery. Ever since the first class, it was clear to the teacher and student body alike that the new batch of students – not particular to just a single house – had a number of highly gifted students. Some of them were in Gryffindor House, such as Lily, Rachel, James, Sirius and Remus.

It was also extremely clear to everyone (Filch, the caretaker included) that James Potter and Sirius Black were two of the biggest troublemakers to have ever set foot at Hogwarts. Things sort of went downhill from then on. Lily, who had taken a dislike to James and Sirius since they had poked fun at Snape in the train, found her dislike growing with each passing day. When Lily had related the incident to her friend, Rachel started to loath the boys as well; for she found them to be nothing more than obnoxious show-offs whose heads were swelling rapidly on account of their increasing popularity. She did like Remus, however, and always had a pleasant smile ready for him.

Situations didn't change until their third year, for it was during their third year at Hogwarts that James started to like Lily, and it was during the fourth year that Sirius fell for Rachel.

No matter how much his best friend denied it, James was certain of his attraction to Rachel. James could even relate the exact time and place during which Sirius's attraction had started.

It was on a bright, sunny morning on September the first.

The Hogwarts Express was a few short minutes away from leaving King's Cross Station. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were standing about chatting with Mr and Mrs Potter on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. It was at this time that Lily had chosen to show up with her parents while Rachel was accompanied by a sturdy-looking old woman.

James eyed Lily appreciatively, quite liking the soft changes the summer holidays had brought about in her. Then, his eyes fell on Rachel, except she didn't look like the Rachel he had known for the past three years.

Her golden blonde hair was no longer a thick mass of curls but sleek, straight and shiny, and fell elegantly to her waist. And perhaps it was such a change that gave more structure to her oval face, keen blue eyes, sharp nose and pouted red lips. She looked like an entirely different person without her extremely curly hair. James also felt as though he was seeing her skin for the first time because he had never noticed before then, that it was a very light shade of honey, and made her look more beautiful than ever.

He wasn't the only one staring at her either. Almost every Hogwarts' student in the vicinity was looking at her quite unbelievably. Because of her hair, Rachel did endure a lot of name-calling over the past three years. No doubt the sudden turn of events would bring about a drastic change in her life at Hogwarts. However, as is with Rachel, she didn't notice at all, and continued to chat with her friends, oblivious to the open stares.

Thoroughly nonplussed at the sudden change in their housemate, James had turned to Sirius to note his reaction when the look on his friend's face made him stop. He would recognise that look anywhere – it was undisguised admiration – for he was sure he had the very same look when he'd seen Lily. Sirius hardly blinked at all as he kept his eyes locked on Rachel Knox.

James shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips. Sirius, too, had fallen for a girl.

However, James was not entirely certain that Sirius was aware of his new found admiration for Rachel. So, he watched him closely for the next few weeks, inwardly thankful that Rachel was in Gryffindor House, along with them and Lily. He caught Sirius staring at her on more than one occasion but that always managed to put a sour look on Sirius's face when he saw just how close Rachel and Castor Greaves really were. Through Remus (the mutual friend), they had learned that Castor and Rachel had been best friends since childhood and that they were "thick as thieves". This piece of news did not put a smile on Sirius's face.

On the contrary, Sirius always clenched his jaw whenever they saw them together, which was almost all the time. However, he had never once enquired if there was anything going on between them, not to Remus, not to anyone. Which really was a shame, because James was exactly in the same situation he was – he, too, felt the savage urge to jinx something whenever he saw Lily and Snape together. (Well, he only wanted to jinx Snape and did so at every opportunity he got)

Poor Sirius, James had thought. He couldn't even vent his anger on Castor. It was Sirius's secret, and he intended to keep it so.

During the year, James and Sirius moved on to better and more jaw-dropping stunts and pranks, and had discovered new ways to get detention. Along the way, they started to explore Hogwarts Castle and made it their life's mission to discover all of its secrets. Like so, they decided to name themselves – The Marauders.

Life was at its best for the four friends – except for the tiny glitch in the scenery known as Lily Evans for James, and in Sirius's case, Rachel Knox.

Not only did Rachel and Lily hate the sight of James and Sirius, they pretended most of the time that the boys didn't exist, like whenever they were too loud in the common room or the classroom. The worst part about it was, Rachel, Lily, Cas (as Rachel called him) and Howard, were popular in their own right. Castor had a roguish look about him that made him look older than he actually was; he also had a scowl on his face most of the time and only spoke when spoken to. It was clear to anyone who was looking that he cared a great deal about Rachel, and since their friendship had started in childhood, gave the distinct impression that no one knew her better than he did. He was also a good student, and his quiet ways were attractive to the girls at Hogwarts.

Howard had to be the mature one in the group. Being the only son of parents who led a quiet, rather boring life in the high society of Wizarding London, their serious attitude had rubbed off on him as well. He preferred the calm, subdued life he was used to, happy within his small circle of friends.

Still, there was never a dull moment for them; especially at Hogwarts.

After Rachel's transformation, she had become a reputed beauty at Hogwarts, gaining a fan following from boys of all ages, and even younger girls, who looked up to her and Lily as role models, for they were smart, well-behaved and beautiful. Rachel's peers and seniors were not too happy about the fact, but were too intimidated by her to actually show their jealousy. Rachel, for her part, did not seem to notice the rise in her popularity; she didn't seem to care. Rachel didn't care when people made fun of her big head when her hair was curly, she sure as hell didn't care that people admired her when it was sleek and shiny. That was just the way she was.

Rachel had wanted to grow out her hair, but seeing as how unmanageable it would become in its curly state, she used a hair straightening cream that required to be applied once every three months. She was satisfied with the results and decided to stick to it. That was the only thing that changed about her.

It was what Lily liked most about her best friend which was exactly what Castor and Howard liked about her, too. Throughout the castle, they gained a glowing reputation of being the nice blokes.

Speaking of Castor and Rachel's closeness, Lily and Howard knew that they were nothing more than good friends – best friends, in fact, like Lily and Snape. The rest of the school did not agree. As years passed, rumours about their "relationship" started circulating around the school, rumours which, on reaching Sirius's ears, made him want to curse Castor Greaves into oblivion.

However, no sooner had the rumours started, that they were quickly and spectacularly shattered by Rachel herself. She and Cas had turned a deaf ear to the stories about them, and had treated the entire situation as a joke with Lily and Howard. At the end of their fourth year at Hogwarts, Rachel, for the first time in her life, was asked out on a date by a Ravenclaw sixth year named Michael Vartan. To the shock of the entire school, she accepted.

She didn't agree in order to put the gossip about her and Cas to rest, but because Michael was a smart, friendly person, and a Prefect to boot. Rachel liked him immediately and, like so, became the girlfriend of a rather good-looking wizard of sixteen.

Needless to say, Lily, Cas and Howard were very pleased with the pairing and approved of Michael.

Well, everyone except Sirius, of course. The news hit him like a solid punch to the gut, and he had sulked for weeks on end. It took repeatedly dunking Snape head-first in the Black Lake for him to even crack a smile. It took him another week to get his act together and pretend as though there was nothing wrong with him to begin with. It was an unspoken agreement between James, Remus and Peter to go along with his act and never to mention the words Rachel or Vartan when he was around. All in all, the four friends put the "incident" behind them and moved on. Just like that, Sirius had lost his love, even before it had a chance to begin.

Only James saw him suffer in silence after. But it probably was for the best, James felt himself thinking, because at least now, Sirius could come to terms with his feelings for Rachel Knox. Sirius knew now, when she was with someone else, that he did indeed like her immensely, that he did have feelings for her.

Rebellious by nature, he and James went on a jinxing and hexing spree on anyone who annoyed them. They liked the attention they received and Sirius, not knowing what to do about the Rachel-Vartan situation, eased his pride by becoming an incorrigible flirt, breaking hearts left, right and centre. The female devotion he received swelled his already inflated head, and together with James, Remus and Peter, became true Marauders of Hogwarts.

What Sirius didn't know, was that the best thing about life is its blatant unpredictability. Never in a million years would he have predicted the changes that were about to come his way …

A/N: This is the setting of the story. It will start (properly) in the next chapter.

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Thank you for reading.