CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION TO THE SEVENTH YEARS
Severus Snape's yell echoed down the stone corridor outside the great hall.
"Black!" He spat, "You're dead!" He was halfway up the wall, hanging by the neck of his black coat which hung from a lantern, his wand in the grasp of one Sirius Black who stood sneering below him.
"Sirius looks alive to me, Snape, and fairly healthy at that," replied the Head Boy, James Potter who was striding down the corridor past younger students walking in the opposite direction. They had seen the scene developing and were eager to get as far away as possible. Many turned their heads to watch James walk past, many still in awe, even now, hours after the arrival dinner when James and Lily were named Head students. He was frowning, but a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips, as he was conflicted about the scene.
He stood next to Sirius, crossed his arms and looked up at Snape, pensively. "Prongs, what the hell are you doing?" He asked Sirius, still looking up at an aggravated Snape.
Sirius' sneer fell from his face as he turned to James, "I'm mowing the lawn…what does it look like I'm doing?" He asked in disbelief.
"Do you think that this is such a good idea, you know, considering…?" James turned to his best mate.
"What? Considering what? The fact that Evans has you so wound around her little finger that you've lost all your personality? Or the fact that I tried to murder this bastard and was almost expelled? Or that our lives are endangered by his allies and we shouldn't provoke them? Or that my parents threatened to disown me…yeah like that's a threat!" Sirius was growing heated with each sentence, rounding on James, Snape forgotten.
"Mate, mate, calm down!" James ran his hands through his hair in anguish. He knew that Sirius was not himself. Over the past couple of years he was beginning to show a change in personality. He used to be so carefree, so happy. Tonight, he was a brooding recluse, a shadow of the friend he used to be.
"I just meant considering Moony. I mean things are still awkward between the two of you, and I don't think this would help. Look, just let the prick go…he's not worth us fighting over him, don't you reckon?"
"You know, you've turned into a right arsehole since you got that badge," Sirius snarled, poking James' gold badge on his chest, "we used to have fun. Last year-"
"Padfoot, mate, you of all people should know how much has changed since then. Now, stop trying to undermine my authority and come and have dinner," he said, smiling, trying to make light of the situation, "Anna has been asking about you all night and I know that Peter has a prank lined up for some Slytherins, something I know nothing about of course, being a responsible Head boy".
Sirius just frowned and said, "Don't patronise me, James". He threw Snape's wand on the floor and pushed past James, his tall figure quickly moving down through the shadowy corridor.
"Touched as I am, Potter, I'll make sure your neck is on the line for this. Imagine the shame; a Potter stripped of his badge," Snape smirked.
James gritted his teeth and hissed, Severus; the charm to tear. Snape's black cloak ripped and he fell heavily to the hard floor. James made sure to stand on his hand before turning and walking back into the great hall.
James watched as Lily's hips sashayed in front of him as she walked up the staircase. She hadn't noticed he was behind her yet and frankly he didn't want to deal with the inevitable outburst of anger. Though sexy, he didn't want to try to justify himself once again tonight. He remembered how she bit her lip when his name was announced as Head boy to her Head girl. Probably biting back a yell he thought.
"Potter, I know you're there," Lily said evenly, without turning around.
James was silent.
Lily stopped with her hands on her hips and turned around to look at him. She saw the look on his face and paused before asking softly, "where did you disappear to? We were supposed to-"
James was surprised by her tone, but still answered curtly, "Look, Evans, my friends come before anything else, even you, surprisingly." He kept walking past her, said the password to the Fat Lady and stepped into the common room.
Lily was surprised and more than a little hurt. By the time she walked into the noisy common room he had disappeared up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.
"Lily!" Someone called. She swung her head around and saw her friend Carmen sitting by the fire with Remus and Jack, a Ravenclaw guy she and Carmen had befriended one day in fourth year in Care of Magical Creatures. They visited each other often in their different common rooms; they had a strong friendship.
She walked over and collapsed sideways across an empty plush chair, her knees hooked over one arm of the chair, her neck crooked over the other.
"That bad, huh?" Asked Jack.
"Mmm, well, I had a run in with a Miss Bellatrix Black; then I had to horde groups of first years around; then I had to deal with Professor Dalley, trying to cover for Potter's disappearance; then I was hit on by Gilderoy Lockett," here she paused to pull a face, "and finally, I had to deal with His Royal Highness himself."
They all raised one eyebrow, in almost practised synchrony.
"I thought you had agreed that James had changed, for the better?" Jack remarked.
"Yeah, just the other day, you were saying how hot-"
"Yes, whatever, but I think Sirius tends to bring out the worst in him," Lily interrupted Carmen quickly, "where is Sirius anyway?" She asked, sitting up and craning her neck to look around the room.
"I haven't seen him since the train, actually," said Remus who was wiping pumpkin juice off his watch with his robes.
"Isn't that a bit odd?" Asked Carmen, curious.
"No, nothing about Sirius is usual or normal anymore," answered Remus mysteriously, standing up, "well, I'm going to bed, see you all tomorrow," and he crossed the room to trudge up the staircase.
"Weird buggers the lot of them," remarked Lily, "I know guys say they can't understand how a woman's mind works, but I can't understand how the Marauders' minds work."
Meanwhile…
Sirius Black, transformed into his animagus as a strong black dog, ran through the rain amongst the trees in the forbidden forest. It was dark, the only light coming from the candlelight flickering in the windows of the distant castle and the half crescent moon. He ran as hard as he could, dodging trees, his black coat sleek with rain, his paws dirty from the mud on the floor of the forest. His eyes glowed like coals and he stopped at the base of a random tree, panting heavily. He slowly transformed into human form and leaned back against the trunk, sitting in the mud and soggy leaves. He brushed his dripping hair back off his face, tilted his head back so he was staring up at the starless sky and waited.