Another take on the Marauders, starting with their sixth year at Hogwarts. James/Lily obviously, but still toying around with ideas for the others… ;)

DISCLAIMER: Not mine, or I wouldn't be publishing it HERE, I'd be using it to get even richer (if that's even possible o_o). Angel Mitchell is, however, all my own creation.

Reunion on the Train

"Hey, Evans."

There was no mistaking the smirk that was splayed across James Potter's face, eyes glinting the way they always did whenever they were fixed on a certain red head. For her part, Lily looked less than enthralled about being singled out by the guy she knew very well half of the female population at Hogwarts would do anything to try to impress, especially when that meant being stopped in the middle of the corridor while trying to get back to her compartment of the train.

"Potter," she greeted back with a slight nod of the head, not bothering to hide her annoyance with him. She made a move to keep walking only to have him sidestep in front of her, blocking her way completely.

"You have a good summer, I hope?" he asked in a much more casual tone. Lily could already see where this was going, but seeing as so far he was just being friendly, she saw no reason why she shouldn't be perfectly polite.

"It was alright. It's always good to be back, though," she replied honestly. She loved her family dearly (even her sister, Petunia, despite their differences), but there wasn't anything quite like the feeling of being back at Hogwarts, surrounded by her closest friends. "I trust you enjoyed yourself over the summer as well?"

James' smile faltered slightly at that, a strange look coming on his face as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly and muttered, "Well, it was certainly eventful…" As if catching what he was doing he quickly dropped his hand, the cheerful look returning almost at once. "I got to see Sirius all the time, though, so that was exciting!"

At the mention of his best friend, both he and Lily glanced towards the compartment James had been sitting in up until a couple minutes ago. It came as no surprise whatsoever to see who his companions were, sure that she couldn't remember a day when the four of them hadn't been close. Remus Lupin had a book set up against his knees and was attempting to read, though by the look of it he was finding difficulty in doing so with the smallest of them, Peter Pettigrew, leaning over his shoulder, loudly asking questions as he tried to follow along. Sirius Black, she was surprised to see, wasn't paying either of them any attention, sitting far from either of them gazing listlessly out the window, so unlike his usual self that it was almost frightening.

"Apparently it wasn't nearly as exciting for him," she teased half-heartedly, the worry evident in her voice as she furrowed her eyebrows, looking back up to James with concern written across her features. "I don't think I've ever seen him look like that before. Is he alright?"

If anything, that statement seemed to make James even more uneasy than before, shrugging slightly and not quite meeting her eye as he muttered, "Never better."

Feeling not at all assured, Lily was interrupted before she had the chance to call him out.

"Oi, Jamie! I thought we'd been over this already! You do not keep my girlfriend away from me when I haven't seen her in so long!"

While James was looking mildly affronted by the use of the nickname, a huge grin spread out across Lily's face, barely noticing how quickly he moved out of the way as she threw herself forward, tackling her best friend in a hug.

"Angel! I can't believe I made it all summer without you!" she squealed as she released her again. "I missed you so much!"

Angel Mitchell had been one of the first friends Lily had made during her first year, most likely due to the fact that they shared a dormitory together in Gryffindor tower. At first she had thought the slightly younger girl was quite eccentric, and that belief was only strengthened as their friendship grew. She had also been a bit jealous at first of her naturally good looks-well shaped features, stunning figure, pale complexion, crystal blue eyes, wavy black hair-but of course, Angel had been quick to assure her that she was nothing compared to the green-eyed beauty, and the two of them had laughed about it.

"Oh, trust me, I missed you, too!" Angel grinned right back, turning to look at James again and adding cockily, "I was even starting to miss you idiots." Rather than get offended, James just laughed, much more calmly stepping forward and embracing her as Lily had done, only much more loosely.

"Of course you missed me, Sis," he teased, calling her by the affectionate nickname he had given her, throwing a wink Lily's direction as he added, "Everyone misses me, even if they don't like admitting it."

"Just keep telling yourself that," Lily sighed, but the corners of her mouth were twitching as she fought not to smile. Noticing this, James looked suddenly elated.

"You should come sit with us instead!" he said eagerly, obviously hoping this was a sign that things were actually starting to get somewhere this time. "I bet the guys have missed you, too, so it would be rude not to at least come in and say hello…"

"I don't know if-" Lily started to protest, but Angel replied, "Sure!" Catching the look Lily gave her as James retreated back into the compartment looking as if he had hit the jackpot, she muttered under her breath, "It won't kill you, Lils. It's the first day back, cut the poor guy some slack." Blinking, she proudly announced, "Rhyme time!" before following James, half-dragging Lily in with her.

It was Sirius who looked up first as the compartment door slid closed again. Any sign of his earlier brooding seemed to disappear immediately as he perked right up, sitting up straighter and letting out that infamous laugh of his.

"Bloody hell, Prongs! You got Princess and Flower-Power to come back with you? How'd you manage that one?"

Lily made a face at the names before shaking her head, cautiously taking a seat near the door. "Nice to see you, too, Black," she smiled weakly at him, turning to mouth the word, "traitor!" at Angel, who pretended not to see her as she sat down on the other side of Remus.

"Well, what it is," she began to explain with a smirk, keeping her eyes on Sirius, "is that your enormous ego somehow combined with his, and the resulting mass was so huge it created its own gravitational pull and sucked us in."

Lily burst out laughing, and Remus chuckled lightly, slowly closing his book and setting it off to the side, looking between his two friends with a rather amused look on his face.

"I dare say she may be on to something," he told them jokingly, turning to smile warmly at the girl now on his left. "Good to see you again, Angel." Looking across at the others, he added, "And you as well, Lily. How is your sister doing?"

"Oh, you know," Lily gave a roll of her eyes, "same old Tuney."

Peter was frowning slightly, leaning forward in his seat in order to see around Remus to look at Angel before looking back to Lily. There was a confused look on his face, and after a moment's hesitation, he asked softly, "Won't Marlene and Alice wonder where you are?"

Lily's eyes widened slightly. "Shoot, I told them I'd only be gone for a moment!" she groaned, glancing uncertainly at the door. James, who had eagerly taken up the seat between her and Sirius, frowned as he realized what she was thinking.

"It's okay. Frank showed up to talk to Alice shortly after I got there, so Marlene and I figured we'd give them some space," Angel assured her, as if wanting to make sure there was no doubt that she hadn't just ditched their other friends. "She was going to try to find Mary, actually."

Sirius let out a long whistle at that, smirking as he stretched and said lazily, "Can't blame her."

Almost immediately, Lily's eyes had narrowed, looking past James to give him a dirty look. "Sirius Black, tell me you didn't!"

"Aww, is someone interested in my personal relationships now?"

"N-no!" Lily blushed slightly as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her, looking slightly repulsed. "Merlin, no. It's just…well, Mary's…"

"A female version of you, as far as the slut factor goes," Angel said bluntly. Lily gasped, staring at her as if unable to believe that she had really just said that, but the rest of them just laughed. Sirius looked a little sheepish but shrugged, knowing that it wasn't exactly the first time he had been called out on his playboy ways.

"Ah, whatever. Doesn't mean she isn't hot. But, if it makes you feel any better, Evans, I haven't touched her, I swear."

"Good! That has to make you one of the only ones in the entire school, but…" Lily trailed off with another blush as she realized how badly she was talking about one of her friends. Not a great friend or anything, but still.

"I-I heard that she's dating a second year now," Peter spoke up a bit shyly, looking around at them all before giving a little shrug. "It probably won't last long, but I feel sort of sorry for the guy…I mean, he's only a kid."

Angel pulled a face. "Absolutely disgusting, that. He'll be needing therapy for years," she muttered a bit bitterly, apparently having none of the same qualms as her friend did about talking about Mary behind her back. Then again, she was also far more likely to speak up and say such things to her face, too.

"Many of us haven't seen each other in months," Remus spoke up, quietly but firmly. "I would think we would have something a little more interesting to talk about."

The subject was immediately dropped, all of them shooting him a guilty look before launching into a conversation about what they had all done over the summer. As usual, no one bothered to ask Angel why she was uncharacteristically silent as this topic was breached. She had made it perfectly well known from day one at Hogwarts just what kind of a man her Muggle father was, and what his opinion was on having both a witch wife and a witch daughter. She and Sirius had once joked that their fathers were the polar opposites of one another, and that the world would very likely explode if they were ever to be left in the same room with one another.

Lily couldn't help but notice, once again, how something about James was a bit off as he spoke about the various adventures he and Sirius had gone on, even if there was a grin on his face; nor could she ignore the fact that Sirius seemed to have very little to say on the matter himself, seeming to draw into himself more and more as they continued to talk. The girls exchanged glances at this but neither of them said anything, following Remus and Peter's leads and not making a big deal out of it.

Sirius must have known that they were starting to notice that something was up, because he suddenly let out a loud yawn, closing his eyes and leaning back against the seat. "I'm exhausted," he whined, opening his eyes only to scowl down at his stomach as it let out a loud growl. "And starving. Damn you, train, hurry up!"

As if the train had heard him, it began to slow down, and as Angel and Sirius both wiped away the condensation on the windows and peered out, they could see the lights of the castle beckoning them up ahead through the darkness.

"Just think, guys," James sighed wistfully. "We only get to make this trip one more time."

A sad silence settled over the six of them at these words. As they were all about to start their sixth year, that did indeed mean the next time they boarded the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9 ¾ would also be their last.

"We'll deal with that when it comes, I guess," Sirius sighed as the compartments all down the train began to open, people crowding into the corridor trying to get to the exits. The grin was soon back on his face as he stood to his feet, adding with much more enthusiasm, "For now, let's just worry about getting ourselves to that feast!"

Wow, so this is the first fanfic that I've written in YEARS, but I've really been wanting to do something with the Marauders lately. This chapter was just sort of an introduction to the characters…the other girls will have to come into play in the next chapter, though.

I would also like to point out that because I'm not planning on CONSTANTLY checking the books to make sure everything matches up with what's revealed about the past in canon. Just saying that now so I don't get told how something doesn't fit with the books, because I already know that and am willing to accept that, lol.

That being said, I don't exactly know how this is going to go, because I don't have much of it planned out yet. I'll be more than happy to listen to suggestions, if anyone would like to give them! =)