I decided to write this fanfic because I noticed a lot of little inaccuracies in other people's, even the good ones, everything from how Lily's hair is a dark red, or that Lily's parents actually loved that she was a witch, not despised it like others have written. So I reread all seven books and wrote down everything that had to do with Lily and James, as well as everything I could find about them that JK Rowling had said and stuff from pottermore. Aaaand this is what I came up with.

Ch.1

"Did you like question ten Moony?" asked Sirius as the emerged into the entrance hall.
"Loved it," said Lupin briskly. "'Give the five signs that identify the werewolf.' Excellent question."
"D' you think you managed to get all the signs?" said James in tones of mock concern.
"Think I did," said Lupin seriously. [...]
"One: He's sitting on my chair. Two: He's wearing my clothes. Three: His name's Remus Lupin..."

Remus Lupin had a fantastic beginning to his fifth year. His best friends had just successfully managed their ability to be Animangi, and while wildly dangerous, it thrilled him that they would go to such great lengths to keep him company. Surrounded and influenced by his friends, he had a confidence that allowed him to joke about his monthly affliction, despite the pain it caused him. No one suspected a thing. He was Gryffindor's fifth year boy prefect. He had heard on the train that Macy Lewis had a crush on him. And despite James and Sirius' best attempts; he had finished all of his holiday homework.

This year, however, was the exact opposite. He spent the summer in agonizing monthly transformations without the help of his friends. Although cute in his own way, girls were far more attracted to Sirius and James, and without them by his side, he had not noticed a single girl staring at him. And unfortunately, he had been so miserable and depressed over the holidays, he had not finished all of his homework. Furthermore, he simply had a feeling that this year was not going to be good.

He was currently sitting by himself on the train, preferring solitude rather than to pretend to be happy around the others. It did not take long for the others to find him. Instantly upon entering they all knew something was wrong.

"Spill," James said, sitting down next to him. Remus merely looked out the window.

"Come on Moony," Sirius sat across from him.

"Talk to us," Peter emphasized, taking the last seat.

"I don't want to talk," Remus said.

"You barely wrote all summer," James pressed, clearly waiting for Remus to take the opening.

"Like it mattered to you guys," Remus said bitterly. He finally turned to them. "You and Sirius were off having a lovely summer in the Bahamas with your parents and Peter was off at that training camp all summer."

"We wrote every week," Sirius put in.

"And I'm sorry I'm worse at magic than the rest of you," Peter attempted to joke. But Remus was having none of it.

"It was…it was just a rough summer, okay. And all I really want is to be alone right now."

Without another word to him, James turned to Peter. "Have your exploding snap deck Wormy?" James asked. Remus could almost feel the uncertainty with Peter. After a long pause he finally said, "Right here." For the next half hour, Remus tried to get lost in his dark thoughts. It was not until half way through an intense game of exploding snap during which the others would later say Sirius was cheating, and Peter was in the middle of winding story about how he had turned into a rat and freaked out a whole cabin of boys who had picked on him that Remus found himself laughing. And once he was laughing, he realized he had been listening to their stories and feeling even worse not joining in than he was feeling sorry for himself. So he turned away from the window and asked them to deal him in the next round.

"I think it's going to be a great year," he said, watching the end of their current game. And then James began to fill him in on his and Sirius' summer, and Peter asked if they were going to continue working on the map that year and Remus began to think he was wrong about this year. Fifth year might have started off fantastic, and maybe his summer had been rotten, but this year was going to be great too. And as his friends chattered around him happily, Remus wondered why he had wanted to be alone in the first place.

The opening feast started out just like any other. The hat spewed some melodramatics, shaking first years were sorted, and the Maruaders pulled a prank. Before the pudding had been brought out Mary Mcdonald was laughing so hard she had to clutch her sides. As Professor's Flitwick and McGonagall began to fix the sparking candles, and the Slytherin's that had run out of the hall began returning to their seats, the laughter began to simmer down.

Just as dinner ended and desert began all candles across the Great Hall had begun to shoot out sparks. Three of the tables enjoined nice cascading sparks that sizzled out before reaching the table. One table, however, had been subject to sparks that hit their robes and hats, bursting into spontaneous flames that gave the wearer quite a scare, but did not burn them in any way. Once the flame reached the individuals hair, it began to flame out, turning their hair a nice, bright blue. The houses that enjoyed their own little showers of light grew momentarily worried by the shrieks coming from the table nearest the door, and several Professors came running down immediately. Upon seeing that none were harmed and all of the flames had died out, the Professors began ushering the students that had ran out back to their seats, and after a couple of attempts, began to change their hair back to the original colors. The other students, after realizing nothing was happening that was life threatening, began to laugh.

"I have never seen Snivelly run so fast, have you?" Sirius questioned, laughing just as hard as the rest.

"Never," James Potter said on the other side of him.

"How did you make it so the flames wouldn't burn them?" Mary asked, her laughter finally residing.

"And to turn their hair blue?" Marlene asked from the other side, looking over her shoulder at Flitwick standing on the bench, tapping the top of a Slytherin second years head. Mary followed her gaze and giggled as she saw the brown of his natural color trickle down and overtake the blue.

"And to only target the Slytherin's, none of the other houses?" Frank Longbottom asked from a little further down, trying to get into the conversation. "At least divulge one of your secrets."

"Well that would imply that we know how it was done," James laughed. Mary looked across her at Remus.

"Come on Remus," she practically begged. "How'd you guys do it?"

"I'm a prefect. What makes you think I was involved?" he questioned, one eyebrow quirked. But he had a slight grin on his face that said otherwise.

Quite a few suspicious glances were sent in their direction by the staff and other students. Mary could see several Slytherin's pointing at the Marauders, but they had never even raised their wands during the meal, and Mary knew the accusations would not stick.

As the chatter in the hall finally went back to normal and the Slytherin's all settled down, albeit unhappily, Mary turned to her right and spoke to Lily Evans.

"You've been so quiet Lily," Mary said, reaching out for another piece of chicken.

"Mmm," Lily said, glancing over at the Slytherin table.

"You're thinking about Snape aren't you?" Mary questioned. She herself shot a look at the person next to Snape, Mulciber, and shivered. True to Dumbledore's word, Mulciber had stayed away from her after the incident last year, and Mary hardly saw him at all, but seeing him did remind her of what had happened last year. She pushed the thought away. Thinking of that now would put her in a dark place.

"Yes," Lily said quietly. "I know I made the right decision, but it's still…well it's still hard. This is the first summer in a long time I did not see him."

"You'll be okay Lily," Mary put an arm around her. "You know what they say. Time heals all pain."

"You would know," Lily replied, her gaze moving from Snape to Mulciber.

"I know you did not really want to discuss it Mar," Lily tore her gaze away from the Slytherin's to look at her best friend. "And that you had been seeing that therapist, but if you ever do want to talk about it…"

"I know Lily," Mary laughed, "you've only offered about a hundred times."

Lily laughed as well. "I have, haven't I. But it's just, what he did to you. It leaves a mark you know. I don't mean a physical one, just…Well, anyways, if you change your mind at any time, I'm here."

"Why in the world," a voice belonging to none other than Sirius Black cut into their conversation, "would the two of you be having what looks like a serious conversation on the very first night. At least save the drama until tomorrow ladies." The two girls shared a glance and Mary knew they were both thinking the same thing. With on last torturous glance at the Slytherin table she turned to Sirius.

"Alright Black," Mary challenged. "Amuse us."

"You should never have told him to amuse us," Lily Evans said to Mary as they made their way up the staircase to the Gryffindor tower. A little louder she shouted, "Come along first years, don't lose the group." Peering down the stairs behind her, Lily saw Remus was also on the staircase helping usher the new eleven year olds in the right direction. Dutifully, Mary and Alice joined her up the stairs. Marlene was noticeably absent, but as she had not told any of the girls where she was headed off to, they figured they would see her back up in the tower.

"Do you think half of those stories he told were true?" Mary laughed.

"Some of them maybe. But the one about Peter and the tea kettle?" Alice chimed in, "I would be a bit surprised if that was true."

"I dunno," Lily replied, glancing back once more to make sure the first years were still behind her. "Peter's face was turning pretty red."

The three girls laughed at the memory and fell silent.

They had reached the Gryffindor common room and Lily waited for Remus to catch up before instructing the First Years on how to get in. Several seemed excited but a couple looked nervous about forgetting the password.

"Don't worry," Remus assured them. "People are always coming and going. Someone will eventually come about and you will be able to get in." The relief on their faces was apparent, and Lily tried to remember if she had been nervous her first day. Upon entering through the portrait hole, Lily and Remus instructed the First Years on where to go and ensured them that the Common Area was open to all students. Then, sending them on their way, the two of them nodded to each other and headed off to their separate dorms.

Alice and Mary were upstairs already, of course, and upon entering Lily was feeling a slight bit better. Sure, she was still angry at Sev, and it had been a long summer, but it was a new year. She had great house mates, great friends, and the N.E.W.T.'s were two years away. Yet Lily could not stop the sinking feeling in her chest. Every time she thought about Severus Snape, she began to think about Hogwarts, and the almost full-fledged war. She had noticed that the house tables seemed a little bit less empty this year than usual. Though she was sure she would find out who had not returned in the next couple of days, she had noticed a couple of Muggle-borns in her year that had not returned. And so while others were feeling quite good about the start of this new year, Lily felt her heart sinking lower.

Noticing that the redhead had been smiling moments ago and was now looking quite crestfallen, Mary turned to her to speak, but was interrupted by the door to their dorm opening.

"Great Godric!" Alice squeaked, "no need to slam the door open Marlene." There stood the fourth roommate.

"Marlene," Lily, thankful for the distraction greeted the girl. "Where have you been?"

"I didn't mean to open the door so forcefully," the girl said apologetically. She shut it much more gently and made her way over to her bed.

"You haven't answered my question," Lily pointed out.

"I've been…well…"

"This sounds like it will be good," Mary grinned.

"Marlene!" Alice jumped on her bed. "Tell us where you've been this instant."

"I haven't even been gone long," Marlene argued, "I don't think it's been long enough to warrant my telling you."

"I think," Alice replied, "that over five years of friendship warrants a telling."

Marlene bit her lip. "Oh all right," she sighed. "I guess Lily would be finding out tomorrow anyways." The other girls shot Lily a glance. "I've been, well I've been seeing Mark McKinnon."

"McKinnon?" Lily questioned, "The same Ravenclaw that's been my good friend and study partner for several years McKinnon?"

"Yes, well…"

"The same McKinnon I made out with once in fourth year?" Mary questioned.

"He's…"

"The same McKinnon…actually I've got nothing," Alice laughed, "I don't really talk to the chap much."

"Yes!" Marlene said. "That McKinnon. The only Mark McKinnon in the school."

"Well you could have said Mak McKinnon," Alice input, "which could have been short for Makayla McKinnon, his sister. In which case you would be…"

"Stop," Marlene shook her head as though trying to shake a mental image.

"Well that would make a lot more sense about why you were so secretive about it," Alice muttered.

"Alice is right though," Lily said. "Why did you think we would care?"

"I don't know," Marlene replied quietly. "He's a good mate of yours and like Mary said, she made out with him once, and I just didn't really think."

"Let me repeat," Mary laughed. "I made out with him in Fourth Year."

"And I could not tell you the number of times I have tried to convince you three I have no feelings for the boy whatsoever," Lily added.

"You're right, you're right," Marlene put her hands up. "I was being ridiculous. But let's not talk about it right now. I was really hoping Professor Mortiar would not be back this year."

"I don't want to talk about him," Alice grimaced. She hated talking badly, but thoroughly enjoying picking on her friends, "I want to talk about Heath saying hi to Lily before we got on the carriages tonight.

"I almost forgot!" Mary squeaked. "What was that all about?"

"I dunno," Lily replied blushing. Heath was very attractive after all. "I haven't ever really spoken to him. He is a Seventh Year, and very smart."

"And he is very attractive!" Marlene added mirroring Lily's thoughts. Lily smiled again.

"I wish he would say hi to me," Mary said teasingly, nudging Lily.

"I think you all are really making too big of a deal out of this. If every hello turned into a gossip session, there would be no time left to talk about anything else." Lily was not quite sure why she so forcefully did not want to talk about it, but for some reason she just knew she would rather talk about something else. "Have you heard the new song by The Hobgoblins. I don't think I like it much but I kept listening to it all last week because Petunia hated it."

The other girls allowed the subject change, saying no more on the matter of Heath, and Lily let herself get distracted by the mindless chatter long into the night.