Judging Realities

Pilot Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. They belong to J. K. Rowling. Same old. Same old. You know the deal.

Lily Evans was not having a good day. She was due at the train station at half past two, giving herself roughly three more hours to finish packing for her last year back at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite her obvious joy at returning to her favorite place in the world, she couldn't get the letter she had received that morning out of her mind. Phrases from the dreaded parchment kept flashing through her head, reminding her of the awful news that she was once again behind on loan payments and if she didn't act fast she would be forced to drop out of Hogwarts. It wasn't as if she didn't have other issues to deal with on top of her financial problems; her parents' feuding had risen to an all time high during winter break, Petunia was once again not talking to her and her boyfriend of six months had ended their relationship a mere two weeks ago. Despite being a sixth year, Lily had no one to turn to for help with her problems. By accepting her admittance to Hogwarts six years ago, she had alienated herself from her family and managed to sustain no close friendships. Lily Evans was alone in the world and the one thing that kept her going was about to fall through her fingers if she didn't find a way to sort everything out.

Raven Slade was NOT having a good day. She was packed and all set for returning to school, but she couldn't block the thoughts she had been having since the dreadful event of last semester. It was like a bad dream that she continued to relive every time she stopped distracting herself. Victoria had been ignoring her phone calls all summer and getting her mother to cover for her whenever Raven dropped by the house. Mia had been ignoring her calls as well. No one wanted to see or talk to Raven. And Jonathan, well Jonathan could rot in hell for all Raven cared. He deserved whatever he had coming to him. And the one person who could fix her situation with a few simple words was refusing to do so, an act that had destroyed her life, but left him completely untouched.

That didn't change the fact of how awful and alone Raven felt or how desperate she was as she sat in the train station bathroom waiting for the results. The box said the test took five minutes and it had been three so far. Raven had to catch the train in ten minutes and just wished the damn test would hurry up. She had been putting it off for the last few weeks, hoping each day that her period would finally come, but it never did. She couldn't wait any longer, even though she knew the worst was already true. As she looked down at the test and the ungodly plus sign it was beginning to display, she couldn't help but shed a couple tears as her worst fears were confirmed; she was pregnant and had no idea what to do about it.

James Potter was not having a good day. After the end of semester party and James' sloppy behavior that resulted in him getting caught with alcohol for the fifth time that year, his parents had established a zero tolerance policy. He was under close watch and partying was out of the question. After a thorough verbal trashing from his father and a million tears shed by his mother, James was informed that if he stepped out of line again, he would be off to Durmstrang. Durmstrang meant no girls, no friends and no parties, except for those of the pork sword kind. Long story short, Durmstrang was not an option and James was not someone to take things lying down. He may have spent his winter break being the obedient son his parents had always hoped for, but that didn't mean he was going to simply stop having fun; he was just going to work extra hard to make sure he wasn't caught.

Sirius was having a great day. The sun was out, the sky was blue and the air smelled like freshly cut lawns and clean laundry. He couldn't have created a better day if he had the power to.

"Cheer up old pal. It isn't the end of the world prongsie boy. There are plenty of jolly good things to do while I get in enough partying for the both of us. You could, for instant, read a book or visit the kitchens! Oh how I love the kitchens! If you pick that activity I might even risk my own "life of the party" reputations to join you for a muffin or –- Ooof what'd you do that for mate? Bloody well hurt it did." Sirius complained as he rubbed his arm where James had hit him not moments before.

"You're a right prat Sirius. I hope you know that. Kicking me when I'm down. It's just plain cruel mate. Can't you see I'm wounded here? I mean honestly, it is sixth year. Sixth bloody year and my parents do this to me. I thought I had seen the worst of it by now. I really did, but my parents have sunk to an all time low with this new scheme of theirs. I am doomed to a life of no friends and worst of all, no drunken relations with girls," James moaned as Sirius and he made their way to the train station.

"Well I take offense to that. I am in disbelief that you think so low of me that I would simply drop you as a friend because of your predicament. Now look here, did I or did I not just volunteer to accompany you to the kitchens during a party? How much greater of a friend could I be mate?" Sirius replied in mock offense, making James smile in spite of himself.

"I guess you're right. It's just so frustrating. I spent the break brooding and I haven't even come up with a way to deceive my parents. You would think after years of marauding it would take mere moments to establish a plan, but the one time I truly need it, my mind is blank. Sixth year is looking worse and worse by the moment."

"What you need is a chocolate frog. Come along now Jamsie boy. The frogs are this way," Sirius chimed, ignoring James' awful mood as the boys reached the train.

Sirius was determined to let nothing ruin his great day and if that meant pampering James out of his girly, brooding mood then Sirius was going to take the job on 120%. His friends had been downers all summer and Sirius was determined to start the year off right.

Remus had spent the summer being horribly depressed and even more indecisive. He couldn't get his confrontation with Jonathan out of his mind and the look in Raven's eyes had haunted him every time he tried to sleep. He had to give his friends credit for all the effort they had made to cheer him up, but alas it was to no use. Remus couldn't stop hating himself for what he had done, or rather what he had not done. By protecting himself, he had ruined someone else's life. He didn't know the full details, but from what he had gathered without trying to seem suspicious was that Raven had been dumped by all her friends and that virtually no one had even talked to her the whole break. It wasn't a situation he was proud to be responsible for.

The only comfort Remus had was Emma, his girlfriend of one year. Despite all that was going on with him, Emma was still able to make him laugh and smile from time to time, a feat he greatly appreciated. Although they got along well and were deeply in love, he couldn't ignore the fact that it was because of his secret and his fear of Emma finding it out that he had kept his mouth shut about what happened to Raven. It wasn't like he hadn't tried to tell Emma. It was just that every time he sat her down to finally come clean, he would look into those innocent almond eyes filled with adoration for him and he couldn't do it. He would freeze up and couldn't utter a word. Eventually her eyes would become concerned and she would ask him what is wrong. And all he could do, all he could ever do was whisper, "It's nothing. I love you," and promise himself that next time he would have the courage to tell her.

As always, that is what Remus was pondering when Sirius and James boarded the train and pushing their way into the Marauders' typical compartment, laden with chocolate frogs.

"Oi mate!" Sirius shouted and then proceeded to trip over one of Remus' discarded shoes on the compartment floor and send his chocolate frogs soaring.

Pushing his negative thoughts from his mind for the moment, Remus let himself relax and laugh as Sirius flailed around on the floor.

"Where's Pete?" James asked as he ignored Sirius and plopped himself down next to Remus and began to eat one of the chocolate frogs.

"I haven't seen him yet," Remus replied and grabbed a chocolate frog for himself.

"He'll find us. We have more pressing matters to deal with," Sirius informed the other two as he finally got himself situated on the other seat. "As you are aware Remus, Prongsie's social standing is in danger. You being the intellectual of the group, makes it your priority and obligation to solve said problem. We need some sort of person to watch James at parties and make sure he behaves himself and gets home all safe and in one piece," Sirius mocked and reached over to pinch James' check. "We have to make sure our special boy doesn't get caught partying."

"So basically you want me to find you a babysitter for James? Sorry, but last time I checked Hogwarts didn't have a daycare," Remus laughed.

"You, Moony, are a genius! A babysitter is just what we need," Sirius marveled, his eyes glinting.

"Mate, I'm not two years old. I don't need my diaper changed and I most certainly do not need a babysitter," James replied.

"Look Prongs, I just mean that we need someone to watch your back and get you to your room at the end of the party so that you don't pass out somewhere weird and get caught by McGonagall again. Remember how pissed she was when you puked on that statue near Gryffindor tower and she found you the next morning passed out by it? Legendary," Sirius said and laughed.

"I guess," James mumbled. "But who would want to spend their time being sober and watching me rather than party themselves? No one."

Just then Lily Evans knocked on their compartment door. She opened the door and turned to Remus and said, "Prefects meeting in five minutes Remus. Rachel asked me to tell you." She then shut the door and left.

"Now that is the kind of person who would do it. All she cares about is studying. I don't think I have seen her go to a party once, let alone have a drink. She is a complete wet blanket, but perfect for the job," Sirius said, grinning at the Marauder's new found fortune.

"As horrible as it is to ruin your fun Sirius, I have to inform you that you are only half right. Yes, all Lily cares about it studying and therefore why in her right mind would she want to spend her time watching James doing something as pointless as get drunk and puke his guts out? Taking care of someone else is not something Lily does, especially when it doesn't involve her directly. Anyways, I have a meeting to make. I'll catch up with you guys later," Remus said and left the compartment.

"Rats," Sirius muttered. "I thought I was finally on to something. Sorry Prongs."

"It's alright mate. Maybe I'll just have to lie low for the semester," James replied gloomily.

Remus made his way to the prefects compartment where everyone had already gathered. Rachel, the Gryffindor head girl smiled and him and called the meeting to order. The normal issues were addressed and after about thirty minutes, the meeting was finally called to closing. The prefects begin to file out until only Remus and Lily were left in the compartment. Lily, the scribe for the meeting, was still busy putting all her things back into order in her bag. Remus, on the other hand, had once again gotten caught up in his thoughts towards the end of the meeting and lost track of time.

Lily, finally getting her stuff away, looked up and noticed Remus sitting there. She cleared her throat. "Umm Remus? You do know that the meeting is over right?"

Remus, coming back to the present, shook his head slightly. "Yeah sorry. Just thinking."

As Remus jumped, he accidently knocked Lily's bag over, spilling its contents all over the floor. "Crap. I'm so sorry Lily. Let me help you with that," Remus apologized as he bent over and helped Lily gather her things.

As Remus staked the papers together, he couldn't help noticing one particular piece of parchment: Lily's overdue loan payment notice. Lily saw him staring at it and followed his eyes, suddenly realizing what it was. "Here just give it to me Remus. You shouldn't have seen that."

"Look Lily, are you in some kind of trouble? I know we aren't exactly friends and that this isn't any of my business, but I respect you and if you are having financial trouble, you should talk to someone about it," Remus replied, concerned.

"I'm fine Remus. It's nothing. I'm just a little behind on my payments. I got fired over break and I just haven't had time to find a job yet. Things will work out. They always do," Lily replied, her words trailing off sadly.

It was then that a thought dawned on Remus. Maybe this whole babysitting thing could work out. If Lily needed money then she could have an incentive for watching out for James while he partied. It was highly unlikely that Lily would agreed to it, but the least he could do was try. "This might seem like a ridiculous suggestion to you, but I think that I might actually have a solution to you problem Lily." Her eyes became hopeful as Remus continued. "Look, you and everyone else knows how ridiculous and out of hand James partying is. His parents gave him an ultimatum over break and if he gets caught partying or drinking again then he is going to be sent to Durmstrang. I'm sure if I asked James, he would be more than welcome to pay you to take care or him and make sure that he doesn't get caught or let things get out of hand while he parties. All you'll have to do is watch out for him and make sure he gets back to his room at the end of the night. So what do you think? Don't say anything until you have thought it over."

At first thought, Lily found the whole idea ridiculous. James was a sixteen-year-old boy who had a partying reputation that was only trumped by Sirius. Despite not being the most social person, Lily was well aware of his reputation and didn't think that watching over him was the most valuable use of her time. On the other hand, James was not short on money and money was something that Lily desperately needed at the moment. It wasn't like by saying yes she was entering into some binding contract. She could always back out if something better came along. "Ok, yes. I'll do it. But under no circumstances will I be cleaning up vomit or supervising sexual acts. And if this doesn't work out at any point, don't hesitate to think that I will not back out in a second," Lily warned Remus.

Shocked and not trying to hide it, Remus agreed and brought Lily back to the Marauder's compartment to make the rules of the arrangement clear to James.

A/N – So that is the first chapter. Thoughts? Comments? Encouragement? Let me know what you think. I haven't written a fanfiction in a really long time (several years) so I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. I have a couple other chapters already written and I am aiming to update this roughly once every one to two weeks. Stay tuned to find out about James and Lily's arrangement, Remus' secret and Raven's predicament.

Until then

~fanglesspsychco~