"Oi! What the hell are you doing?"
Lily shook her head and smiled softly to herself as she heard Sirius yell bloody murder down the corridor. They were always getting up to some sort of trouble. Just last week James had charmed Sirius' hair pink, and had made him live with it for 2 days. Sirius retaliated by charming James' broom to always be just out of James' reach, and only undid the spell when he realised that the Quidditch team needed their chaser. James must be getting revenge now.
It used to annoy her to no end, their pranks and constant mischief and disregard for the rules. But now… Now she's come to the conclusion that she was just really uptight about it, and had probably let Severus get into her head and convince her to hate them. Not that he caused her distaste for their pranks, rather he encouraged them. He wouldn't have succeeded had she not already harboured some resentment for the so-called Marauders.
But now, as she sat in the abandoned Transfiguration classroom doing some not-so-silent-anymore homework, she knew she had been wrong about them. All of them, but especially James. Sure they had been a nuisance as she was trying to get acquainted with the wizarding world, they had definitely been arrogant bullies towards the Slytherins, especially Severus, but they had all matured since then. James had recently told her that he regrets ever having tormented anyone else, even if they were Slytherins and planning on joining the Death Eaters after Hogwarts, but he still had yet to apologise to them.
Over the past school year, they had become close friends, her and the four boys. 'Lily's boys', as Marlene liked to call them. Her boys. She'd never admit it, not out loud anyway, but she liked the sound of that.
She was just starting the second paragraph when she heard a soft "Lils?" from the doorway. She turned, then smiled at the bespectacled boy grinning at her.
"What're you doing in here? Bit lonely, don't ya think?"
"I prefer it, it's away from you four annoying boys. I finally got some peace and quiet before you came along." She quipped, smirking at James.
"Fine, fine, I'll leave you to it." He pouted, and she laughed as he turned to leave. "But, Lils?"
"Yeah?"
"Go to Hogsmeade with me, this Saturday?"
"What, like a date?"
"Yeah, well, no, well, only if you want..?"
"I don't know, Potter, you're a bit too cocky for my tastes" She replied. James turned way, looking rejected.
"But I guess I could give you a shot. I'll met you in the courtyard at 4?
"Great!" He beamed, and ran in and gave her a massive bear hug.
Lily smiled into his chest, feeling glad that she got over that petty 11 year old resentment, so that she could find such amazing friendships that could potentially blossom into something even more wonderful.