OOh, almost forgot that FREAKIN disclaimer. I don't own Harry Potter, I'm only saving up for it. I don't think that JK Rowling would sue me anyway, she's too nice. I have no money anyway.

Once a Marauder, Always a Marauder
By: Feather Hawkins

James Potter and Sirius Black were the two most annoying people in the entire wizarding world. How Lily Evans wished that they would just go away or drop out! Especially James.

James Potter was a popular mischief maker. He and Sirius Black caused more trouble than the rest of the school combined. From Fanged Frisbees to the falling chandelier in the entrance hall, James was to blame. He was also chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and that did nothing but boost his already overly large ego. Yet the never got the punishment they deserved. Contrary, many teachers thought it was funny that James used his talents to wreck havoc and mayhem. His messy black hair was his trademark, his way of saying that he was better than the rest. Which in Lily Evans world, he most definitely WASN'T.

Oh, and there was the small, insignificant fact that he was in love with her.

Lily Evans hated James and had since she was a little first year. He was a bully and he tortured the younger, weaker students or those who weren't as arrogant as him and didn't stand up for themselves. To her, he was just another disrespectful git. Sirius Black was almost as bad, but at least he was nice to some people, especially girls. He was the school's chick magnet and James had been too until he met Lily Evans, the school's uptight prefect. Then he'd "fallen in love" and that was that. No other girl would suit James Potter. He had to choose the one that despised him!

The Marauders were a band of friends made up of Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and of course, the arrogant, big headed, messy haired James Potter (those names were order by the chance that Lily would say yes if any of them asked her out. No wonder James was last.) Remus Lupin, her favorite of the lot, desperately tried to keep his friends in line, but it was hard. Well, he pretty much gave up half way through his sixth year. The only support he ever got was from Pettigrew and he was off visiting a dying relative or something of the sort, but that did nothing to weaken his other two friends. There were only three Marauders left in the school for the next three months and even though James was still there, Lily was glad. Why did the sorting hat put her in the same house? James was so repulsive that he should've been in Slytherin, but no. Instead, he went to brave and noble Gryffindor. When Lily had tried on the hat, she'd been offered a choice, Ravenclaw or Gryffindor and she'd picked Gryffindor for its brave and noble past. Unfortunately for her, James and Sirius were put in the same house. Sirius didn't bother her much except for when he was trying to convince her to do something stupid. Like say yes to James. He was just a distraction from the real problem. Remus was very nice to her and agreed that James was a git sometimes, but they never really became friends because—well, how would James react? One of his best mates friends with the girl her was in love with. If it hadn't been for James, Lily had the feeling her and Remus would've either gone out or been friends. Stupid James!

Speak of the devil and he will appear, thought Lily as James Potter walked up to her. "Hey Evans!" he was wearing his crooked I'm-causing-trouble-and-I'm-a-prefect-so-there's-nothing-you-can-do-about-it grin. "Will you go out with me?" he asked.

Lily's cheeks flared the same color as her red hair. "Not if you were the last boy in the world!" she shouted. "James, you're a stupid git and I'm never going to say yes. Get over it." Arrogant toe rag, she though.

"It's great to see you too! How was your break?" he asked sincerely. Lily hated how he was so ignorant. He could do what ever he wanted and didn't care that anyone watched. Well, he was private about doing his homework because he was never in the common room, but almost always handed in his assignments. She guessed he could do everything that he wanted with almost anyone watching was from everyone watching him with the snitch or whatever the hell he tried to catch during Quidditch. Why wouldn't he leave her alone, though?

"Look, I know you won't listen to me, but will you listen to Remus? I've got something to tell you, but you never listen. I'll give you some credit; I don't always deserve your attention." She started to walk away, but the despair in his voice stopped her. She turned around. Was he…BLUSHING? His face looked extremely red for a moment and Lily almost considered saying yes, just to humor him, maybe go on one date to prove they weren't meant for each other. No, that would make her look weak. Lily Anna Evans was not weak!

"I'll talk to Remus tomorrow in D.A.D.A. Is that enough for your overly large head?" she compromised. He nodded and went and slumped in one of the arm chairs. She had to give in eventually or she'd have a stalker all through her adult life. Lily changed and started to go to sleep in her four poster bed. Her friend best friend, Star, lay in one of the beds next to her. Star had been her friend through the last six years and was always someone you could count on in when you just needed to talk. Even if the talk had been going on for the past few years…

"Star, wake up," she whispered.

The blonde haired girl looked up, "Evans, what's gotten into you? You almost never wake me up. Are we going to the Astronomy tower tonight?"

"Yeah, we are. I've got to talk to you and it's really important. Let's go." Lily pulled her robes over her and started to walk out of the dormitory. "Star," she groaned, "hurry up!" Star was an incredibly slow person and liked to take her time waking up. It was alright for her to wake Lily up, though, when it was her turn. Thank god Lily didn't mind being woken up or Star might've been murdered before she reached her seventh year.

Star pulled her robes over her and stuck on her shoes. "Take a break, Lils. We'll get there eventually." She slid out of the door and down the railing. "We've got to wake up the fat lady."

"What are you doing? Why are you here so late?" James snapped as they came down the steps from the girls' dormitory. "Oh, it's you." He was still sitting in the same chair that he was sitting in when Lily went upstairs about an hour ago. "Come to make fun of me some more, Evans? Didn't I get enough rejection about an hour ago?" He had a Quidditch book on his lap, but it wasn't open. For a few seconds, Lily's heart bled for him. He was so, well, pathetic! His ridiculously untamed hair was flopping over his hazel eyes, but you'd have to be heartless to not see the hurt shining in them. Then the Lily that had rejected James for her entire Hogwarts history came back and all thoughts of James ever being cute or nice in anyway died.

"James," she said in the same voice you would talk to a first year that was agitating you in, "if you didn't ask me out, I wouldn't have to reject you and all my troubles would be solved."

James mumbled something under his breath, as was his hobby whenever he talked to Lily. She caught what he said though, and it deeply touched her. For her, it just awoke that part pitied and even liked him. "You'll forever remain blind to the feelings I have for you and what I would risk to win you over, prove that I actually love you." In a louder voice he moaned, "Lily, just leave! What, still more ridicule up ahead?"

"No. We were just trying to talk, but we didn't want to wake anyone up," Star chirped. She'd always had a soft spot for James since Lily obviously didn't. Or at least she hadn't.

"Should I leave?" he sounded defeated, something rare for the boy that won every Quidditch match for his house. He still didn't look Lily in the eyes.

"Lily and I were just leaving anyway. I already told you we're going up to the Astronomy tower."

James smiled at Star and shot a quick glance at Lily. His eyes darkened when he saw her feigned indifference. Inside, she was squirming and begging to say something meaningful. "I'll see you later then. Bye Evans. Bye Lunis," he waved goodbye to them and returned to staring at the fire. There was that old, too familiar twinkle in his eyes. She figured out why too. Lily kicked Star under her robes. You never, ever tell the enemy where you're going or where to find you. Never!

"Don't call her Lunis and don't call me Evans. We have real names," Lily argued.

"Seeing as you hate my guts, I thought you'd like me calling you something so impersonal. Fine, I'll call you Lily. Star Lunis, what do you want me to call you?" He shrugged indifferently.

"First name is good, James. Good luck in at the next match, though!" Star tapped Lily with her wand. "Are you looking to fight with him?" She shook her head and they left. The fat lady grumbled a bit about waking her up, but they ignored her (as usual, everyone did). They went up the Astronomy tower steps and onto their favorite place although they nearly got caught by Filch and Ms. Norris. There was a part of the railing broken off and they'd sit there and hang their legs down. Most of the time they just talked, but sometimes they'd come up here in the day to watch the Quidditch matches or tan a bit. That night they sat swinging their legs over the edge and looking up at the starry sky. It really was beautiful at Hogwarts. Unlike Lily's former home in the city, it actually had stars and a moon.

"Star, do you think James has finally given up? We said nearly ten words to him and he didn't ask me out even once." Lily hoped, with the slightest of her being, that he hadn't.

"I guess. You know, he's not half bad. I know he can be an annoying git sometimes and I know as well as you do what he's like to Severus Snape, but you've got to admit some things and even give James a little credit. Snape isn't exactly nice to James either and James is just paying him back for a few stunts. Hate Sirius if you must, James didn't start it with Snape. His best friend did."

Lily didn't respond, but had her friend expected her to? She could put up with James asking her out monthly, even weekly, but a hundred times a day? No, it was just annoying. It felt as if something was piercing a hole through her back at all times…and never knowing when it was coming was worse.

There was a creeping noise behind them. "No, Sirius, don't!" someone shouted. A handsome boy with black hair dived at them, missing Star by inches. She screamed and then slid off and hung by her fingers off the edge of the tower. "Help me!" Lily grabbed her hand and tried to pull her up, but it was no use. Star was as small as it got, but Lily couldn't lift the flailing girl alone. A thick heavy feeling settled in her chest and she desperately clung to Star's hand. "Don't let go!" she screamed. Star wailed at looked up at Lily in fear.

James ran over to Lily and tried to help her pull Star up. Sirius got off the ground, slightly dazed, and together the three of them pulled the crying seventh year up. Once Star was up though, Lily started fuming.

"POTTER! YOU COULD'VE KILLED HER!" Lily shouted. James just stood there and took it, though. He looked like he could've died there on the spot, but he didn't. His knowledge of how much he deserved this was the only thing stopping him from jumping over the railing this very second. Hadn't Star been nice to him? Hadn't Star given him advice on Lily? "Don't call me anything. Leave me alone and never come near me again!" Lily started to cry. She thought, no, anywhere but here. Not in front of him. "I hate you!" Lily shouted. James actually flinched at that one. He looked shamefacedly at the ground and avoided Lily and Star's eyes.

"Evans, it's not his fault. We were just trying to fool around. I was the one that tried to scare you. James said not to," Sirius pleaded. Star was shaking near her, still dazed by her near death experience. James gave her an apologetic look, but still faced the ground.

"Sirius, you've done enough damage. Go away, mate. Star, can I talk to Lily for a bit in private?" James asked. He knew how deep he was…and was that—that toe rag going to ask her out!

"Anything said to me can be said in front of her. Sirius, leave," she ordered. Sirius stuck his tongue out at her, but left. She saw a shimmering cloak at James's feet. "Invisibility cloak? Where'd you get something like that?"

"Filch has plenty of goodies in his office. He must have confiscated this years ago it was so covered in dust. Star, can I please talk to Lily in private?"

"Sure." Star shrugged and went down the steps. She hadn't wanted to leave Lily, but she couldn't stop shaking. It'd be nice to sit down for a bit. "Betrayer," Lily mouthed.

"Lily, I know you hate me for this, but it was just supposed to be a joke. Sirius blew it way out of proportion. We were just going to come up and say boo or scare you a bit. I told him not to; you heard me," he pleaded.

Lily softened a bit. "You could've killed her," she said quietly.

James looked down, ashamed. "Yeah, I know. I'm a stupid git, right?"

She laughed. "Wrong, James. You're either bloody brilliant or stark raving mad. What does Remus have to tell me?"

James mumbled something she couldn't hear under his breath. "What!?"

"He was going to try and convince you to give me a chance. Will you go out with me?" he pleaded.

Lily grinned crookedly, sighing as the cold wind ruffled her hair. "I'd like you if you weren't a Marauder and a trouble maker." But she knew that if he wasn't, then he'd be a boring, average student…

"Once a Marauder, always a Marauder. Not being one is like asking me to give up my best friend who just happens to be a Marauder."

"Well I'll have to put up with that then, won't I?" she asked quickly. James seemed to give her a quizzical look before realising what she'd just said.

James's eyes lit up, "Am I delusional or did you just ask me out? Did Lily Anna Evans just ask me out?" His whole body seemed to be flying on some kind of high.

She never knew what it was, whether excitement or what he said earlier, made her say, "I think I'm the delusional one here. I just did, James."