A/N: Okay. So, I know that this has probably been done a MILLION times, but I'd still like to do it, because the Marauders are practically my all-time favorite characters ANYWHERE, which is really saying something. And, I've had this idea in my head for quite a while, so I want to do this in my version. So, here goes nothin'!

For easier reading purposes, the POV will usually center around one person, but I'll change that up because I like all the Marauders and this is a story about all of them, so it'll change, but only from chapter to chapter. The name next to the chapter will be the POV.

Chapter 1 - James

"Muuuuum..." James moaned under his breath. Why did his mother have to be so embarrassing? All ready, people were staring and giggling under their breaths.

"All right, all right, James. I just want you to have a nice time there, is all," Mrs. Potter told her son, withdrawing her hand and looking worriedly down at her eleven year-old boy.

"I will, don't worry about it," James said, seemingly confidently. His father tried not to laugh as he saw through the facade. He knelt down to face his son and looked in his eyes.

"Now, just remember these things and you'll be fine: Don't mess with Peeves, don't dual with anyone until you know how, and if you end up in Slytherin, we'll disown you. But, hey! No pressure." He winked at his son, to show the last part was a joke. James didn't seem to comprehend that, though. He looked worriedly up at his mother.

Mrs. Potter took the Daily Prophet she had been holding and whacked her husband with it. Mr. Potter, a naturally good-humored man, simply laughed, and ruffled his son's black, untidy hair.

"Don't worry, James. You're going to do great at Hogwarts," he said, ruffling the boy's already-ruffled hair, looking down fondly. The worried face seemed to smooth out a little.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. Who would want to be in Slytherin, anyway? Full of Dark Magic, isn't it, Dad?" James looked up at his father, the previous confidence starting to come back. His father, now conscious of everyone around him, looked over at a family who was staring at the three of them with horrible sneers on their faces, all except for their child, a boy with shaggy black hair, who was grinning at James.

He looked back at James and said, rather loudly, "Now, James, that isn't technically always true." But he winked at his son, and James smiled, seeming to at least understand that particular wink.

"Well, dear, you'd best get on the train. It'll be leaving soon...." She looked at the steam starting to roll out of the train. She looked down at her son, tears starting to well up. "Be a good boy, won't you?"

"Muuuuuuum...." James muttered once again, but he smiled up at his mother in assurance, hugged his dad, and hopped aboard the train.

-----

"Stupid compartments...How many students does Hogwarts have anyway? Isn't there an empty one anywhere?" James kept muttering to himself, passing compartment after compartment in a futile attempt to find one devoid of people.

Finally, he passed one where there were only two people, and they both looked like first years. He opened the compartment door. "Excuse me? Do you mind...?"

"Oh, uh, no. Go right ahead," said a boy with a remarkably scarred face. A chunk of his nose seemed to be missing as well. He looked over at the other person in the compartment, a girl with pretty auburn hair and bright green eyes, her face streaked with tears.

Before he could ask her what was wrong, though, he heard a disturbance as two other boys barreled their way down the train, looking for a compartment. "Oh, here, Peter! There's one over here! Only some first years in this one!" The boy with the shaggy hair James had seen earlier exclaimed. He was leading a rather short, squat, and blond-haired boy with a worried look on his face.

"Sirius, you...you don't have to shout you know! What if we get in trouble?" He nearly squeaked, casting furtive glances at all the compartments they passed, fearing someone might get angry at the verbose first year.

Sirius didn't seem to hear the pleadings, and simply strode right into the compartment James currently occupied, and took a seat next to the scarred boy. Peter shoved himself in and sat next to James, an apologetic look on his face. James grinned. He rather liked the pushy, confident, shaggy-haired boy.

Sirius turned his head to face the brown-haired, scarred-faced kid, as if to introduce himself, but stopped short as he took in the student's face. "Wicked scars, mate!" He said to the boy, grinning. He just stared, as if he didn't think anyone would even communicate with him. "I'm Sirius, by the way. Sirius Black," The boy seemed to almost force the last name out of his mouth, as if it was a bad word. James was instantly on alert. He knew that last name, and he didn't like it one bit.

"I-I'm, uh... Remus Lupin," the boy chocked out, still shell-shocked. Sirius turned to the girl, who had proceeded to stare out the window gloomily, tears still running down her face.

"Lily Evans," she whispered. Sirius stared for a second, wondering why she could be so depressed when they were finally going to Hogwarts, and then moved on to James. His eyes lit up with recognition.

"Hey, you're that boy with those cool parents!" Sirius said, wagging his finger at James. James grinned, despite himself. "Yeah, I'm James Potter," he told Sirius.

The boy sitting next to James finally piped in. "And I'm Peter Pettigrew," he told everyone, the little apologetic smile still on his lips.

"Oh, get a backbone will you, Peter? We're finally going to Hogwarts! No parents to have to worry about for months!" He seemed overly cheered at this prospect, whereas James was already starting to feel slightly homesick. He laughed as Sirius started cheering loudly, while Peter's eyes widened and he sunk lower in his seat, Remus just stared, his eyes resembling that of tea cup saucers, and Lily looked out the window, not seeming to notice.

Another first-year boy slid open the compartment door. His hair, black and greasy, was overlong, and he was extremely skinny and pallid-looking, as if he never went out into the sun. He searched the faces of the compartment, saw Lily, and then went and sat next to her, causing Remus to be pushed unceremoniously out of the way.

It was difficult to hear, with Sirius still cheering, but James listened closely. "I don't want to talk to you," Lily told the boy.

"Why not?" he replied, looking at her face greedily. James didn't like that look one bit. He started talking animatedly to Sirius about the wand he had gotten from Ollivander's, and Sirius lounged back on the seat, done with his cheering, and listened to him, adding in stories about his own wand here and there, with Peter looking back and forth from each of them, an admiring look on his face. But no matter how hard James tried to ignore them, their conversation kept reaching his ears.

"Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore." Lily sobbed

"So what?" he heard the boy say with a contemptuous edge.

"So she's my sister!" Lily replied angrily.

"She's only a -" He cut himself off. James could only guess what he was going to say next, but he had a shrewd idea. So she's a muggle-born, he thought, listening to Sirius talk about his wand.

"But we're going! This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!" The boy continued, almost as joyful to be leaving as Sirius was. "You'd better be in Slytherin," the boy said, and James couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Slytherin? Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" he asked Sirius.

"My whole family has been in Slytherin," he replied glumly.

James, who had already decided that Sirius was a nice enough guy and just added this in for the other boy's sake, said, "Blimey, and I thought you seemed all right!"

Sirius grinned, and then said, "Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

James lifted an invisible sword. "'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad."

The boy made a disparaging noise. It was then that James really knew: He did not like this greasy boy at all.

He turned toward the boy, cold. "You got a problem with that?" He asked him. James detested the Dark Arts, while this boy seemed to revel in them.

"No," the boy said, though his sneer spoke much more than the actual words. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy -"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" Sirius interrupted, seeming to have the same immediate dislike for the student as James did, who roared with laughter.

Lily stood up, slightly flushed, and looked at the two boys in obvious dislike. "Come on, Severus. Let's find another compartment."

James looked at Sirius, who looked at him, grinning, and together, they said, "Ooooooo..." and then imitated her lofty voice. Lily left the compartment, and the boy, Severus, followed suit. James tried to trip him on the way out.

"See you, Snivellus!" Sirius called just before the door slammed. James, glad to be rid of the boy, slumped back in his seat and laughed at the fitting nickname.

"That's genius, mate!" James exclaimed, and high-fived Sirius.

"Thought it suited him, don't you?" Sirius said, going back to lounging in his seat. Peter looked even more admiringly at the two boys, while Remus, starting to get used to the verbose manners of the boys, looked down at his seat, a slight frown creasing his scarred face.

"Yeah, how could you ever want to be in a House like Slytherin? Who could actually want to be like that?" James asked to no one in particular, moving over to occupy the empty space Lily's absence created.

"I dunno, mate, I dunno." Sirius replied.

A/N: Ta-da! For most of this chapter, I basically just restated the first memory from The Prince's Tale chapter in Book 7. So if it sounds familiar, that's why. Thanks for reading, and please Review!! XD