Okay, I'm so sorry for such a late next chapter. But, usual excuses apply, school is incredibly important lol. But, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and want to go on this incredible journey with me to tell the story of the Marauders.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Harry Potter Universe. All canon characters belong to J.K. Rowling, the person who originally created them.

Chapter One: Snowball Fight

For Lily Joanne Evans, her view on what the Marauders actually were would change in approximately two months and three weeks. She'd quit blinding herself by their outward appearance and would define them as what made them a close family-like unit that she would come to see that they were. And, on that day, she'd have the blood of three different people on her hands, her cheeks would be stained with tears, and she would see more of James Alexander Potter than any other girl (non-familial) had ever seen before.

But, in this current moment, she remained blissfully unaware of where she would see the Marauders in a different light.

At this current moment, Lily Joanne Evans was only thinking about how James Alexander Potter absolutely infuriated her and wondered how in the hell she would manage to survive another two and a half years with him as a student in the same year and house as her. Because, in all honesty, it was difficult for her to last through all their classes with his obnoxious comments and jokes and how he snickers in the back of the classroom with Sirius Black while Professor McGonagall is talking and it absolutely infuriates her when she cannot look up from a textbook without seeing him looking at her like … something.

Yeah… something.

It continued to be as infuriating and frustrating as it was before Christmas Break. And, they had only been back a week and Lily felt like she needed an entire bottle of firewhiskey (maybe even more than one) and another month vacation away from the intolerable boy who liked to pull pranks and managed to make a fool of himself every time that she saw him. Marlene had told her that he has feelings for her and can't help himself because he's trying to show off to her. Lily called him an idiot anyways and Marlene had simply informed her, "Boys are idiots."

And, she's annoyed that it's only been a week.

It had only been a week since Hogwarts had started up, yet it seemed like Lily Evans's well-deserved break from dealing with the shouting and arrogant Marauders had been for nothing. Her head was pounding from the mere thought of having to spend an entire day with them. It might've only been Tuesday. But, they were being obnoxiously loud yesterday in Potions. No doubt, they'd be three times as loud in Herbology.

Merlin, she thought. She was getting a headache just thinking about the possible class.

"Are you okay?" Marlene asked, her blue eyes looking at her with concern. The Ravenclaw was seated opposite her on the other side of the Ravenclaw table. The blonde had her blue robes draped over her book bag beside her, showing the white button-up and a sweater beneath. While Lily had opted for a pair of jeans to combat the cold weather (it's not like anyone was going to see her pants), Marlene had decided to wear a pair of leggings beneath her skirt.

Lily gave out a heavy sigh, running her hands through the strands of her red hair. "I'm just dreading Herbology is all. Especially with the Marauders, they've been really loud ever since we came back."

Marlene nodded her head. "At least we'll have it together."

Oh, right. Yeah, she decided, that was something that would make the start of the day better.

Ever since the Marauders played a prank on the Slytherins (which Lily still remained unaware of because she was sick and everyone refused to talk about it), Professor Sprout had promptly refused to let the fifth year Gryffindors and the fifth year Slytherins into the same room. It took a lot of maneuvering schedules to make it work and Herbology classes halted for nearly an entire week for the Gryffindors. Now, the Gryffindors had Herbology with the Ravenclaws and the Slytherins had the class with the Hufflepuffs.

"Speaking of Herbology," Lily spoke, spotting the time on her watch. "It's nearly time for us to head that way."

Marlene quickly glanced at her watch, pushing away a pesky blonde corkscrew curl that had fallen from her ponytail and bouncing against the side of her nose. "Oh my, yeah, we only got a little bit to get over there before Professor Sprout starts taking attendance! We better get going. Who knows what we're going to encounter with the Marauders going full swing today?"

Lily felt her stomach drop as she wrapped her winter robes tighter around her and tied her scarf around her neck. And, by the time they had gotten outside, Lily knew that they definitely weren't prepared.

…

For the first time since she stopped beside her typical Prefect partner, Remus John Lupin let out a heavy sigh.

The brown-haired Prefect (and the only Marauder she could deal with on a near constant basis) was a little worse-for-wear. He looked awfully sick, but the boy got sick at least once a month. After five years, she almost wasn't surprised. This fact, however, did not stop her from wanting to wrap up the boy in another layer of clothing to prevent him from getting a cold or develop a fever. He was dressed in his winter robes with his Gryffindor scarf wrapped around his neck. His green eyes briefly flickered over Lily and towards Marlene, who stood on Lily's other side.

As if sensing the change in his eyes, the Ravenclaw girl looked up and questioned, "How long has this been going on?"

"About ten minutes," Peter Pettigrew spoke up from the steps. The plump boy was seated on the steps into the Entrance Hall. The position of two of the Marauders made it easy to see that the steps were the only safe place from the barrage of snowballs that were being thrown across the castle grounds by the only missing members and the Granger twins. At the sight of the two girls, the boy stood up to stand on Remus's other side, seemingly uncomfortable being the only one seated on the ground.

While Peter was easily the shortest amongst his friends, he was nearly the same height as Lily and only a little shorter. He had a full head of mousy brown hair and a pair of warm brown eyes. He had always been a follower of the other three Marauders, Lily knew, but the boy was a good and supportive friend. Peter smiled over at the blonde on Lily's left, who smiled back and gave the boy a small wave.

Turning her gaze back to the snowball barrage, Lily let out a sigh, crossing her arms over her chest. "Leave it to Black and Potter to somehow start the Snowball War of 1976."

Sirius Black was the closest one to their position. His long, black hair was covered in snow, having been shot with fifteen different snowballs a moment before. His robes were covered in snow, his cheeks were a bright shade of pink, and his hands were pink as well (as he didn't have any gloves on). He let out a loud laugh for no reason at all, scooped up a large ball of snow, and chunked it Chaser-style at one of the Granger twins.

Since they had only transferred to Hogwarts a week ago, Lily had not had the time to figure out which twin was which. The Grangers twins were almost identical. They styled their hair in opposite ways and their only other identifying marker seemingly were the necklaces that they both wore. But, it had only been seven days that she had met them and Lily had been so adamant about avoiding James Potter that she hadn't gotten the chance to get to know the twins, who seemed to hang around the Marauders a lot. But, whichever twin received the chunk of snow from Sirius hit the ground, his dark brown hair covered with the remains of the snowball. The other one, equally as tall, scooped up a lump of snow and returned it back to Sirius.

It hit his chest and he fell back into the snow, letting out a laugh.

The twin who fired the shot was knocked to the floor, a laugh emanating from his lips. "Sorry, Jimmy, there's only one James and that's me," James Potter victoriously announced.

Before Lily could even get a chance to spot James Potter, she felt the annoyance at his arrogance well up her throat. And, sure enough, there the boy was the only remaining of the four-person war that was still standing. James Potter had a mess of unruly black hair that stuck up in all directions which seemed to be only amplified by the snowball fight. He had on a pair of round spectacles and behind those were a pair of hazel eyes. He didn't have his winter robes, but he wore a pair of thick pants and a button up. Despite his lack of warm clothes, he seemed fine.

"Good job, Prongs!" Sirius shouted.

Beside her, Remus rolled his eyes again. "I don't care if he charmed his clothes," Remus remarked under his breath. "He's an idiot."

"He's always an idiot," Lily found herself replying.

"They're all idiots," Remus agreed.

Marlene let out a sigh, though it almost sounded like a laugh. "On a normal occasion, I would agree with you in terms of potions," the blonde replied. "But, James is fairly good with Charms."

"Either way," Remus remarked, a ghost of a smile appearing on his face. "If he's going to stand in the cold without his winter robes, he better drag himself to the Hospital Wing to get a potion. The same notion goes for Sirius."

"I mean, they could just brew it in the room," Peter remarked.

Remus shrugged his shoulders. "Do you really want them to be brewing their own potions?"

Peter's cheeks flushed pink and he turned back to the field.

As he did, James was thrown sideways by three snowballs colliding with his right side. He hit a hill of snow with an "oof" and whole structure collapsed around him, briefly burying him in the snow. He quickly fought to the surface, not bothering to fix his glasses which were askew on his face. He threw up his hands in protest as he turned towards the person who had struck him. It was all really childish as though he had just been disciplined by his mother (which he might as well have been). "What the hell, Cat? I already won."

The girl in question stepped into the battlefield, standing beside Sirius's fallen form. Cathleen Dunbar had her brown hair draped in elegant waves down her shoulders. She wore her winter robes tight around her body coupled with a Gryffindor scarf and a hat pulled over her ears. Because she was without her bookbag, Lily deduced that the elegant woman had managed to make it to Herbology before the snowball war. Her wand was in her hand, controlling the handful of snowballs that hovered a few inches from the tip of the wood.

"Hey," Sirius let out a laugh. "It's the Snowball Queen." Cathleen Dunbar looked down at him, raising an eyebrow. Lily looked between the two of them, before glancing at Marlene. The blonde simply shrugged her shoulders. "What? You aren't going to - umph!" The snow beneath Sirius shifted, shoving him up until his stomach collided with the ground instead. He sunk into the snow for a brief moment before his head lifted up and he spoke, "Okay, I might've deserved that."

"Might've? More like definitely," Cathleen remarked. "Come on, you four idiots, it's time for Herbology."

Peter jumped down from the steps to help out James Potter. Both Remus and Marlene took to the steps as well, walking down cautiously, before moving over to the twins. After Lily stepped down, she made a beeline for Cathleen, who grabbed ahold of Sirius's arm and pulled him to his feet. Sirius Black gave her a half-hearted grin. "Hi, Evans," he spoke.

"Black," she remarked. "You best get inside or your fingers might freeze off."

"Yeah," Cathleen remarked, putting her wand behind her ear. "I don't think you'd look nearly as handsome if your nose gets frostbite."

"Thanks for being concerned with me as always, Miss Prefect," Sirius spoke to Lily, before bounding away towards his other half, who stood across the battlefield.

Only half a heartbeat later, the gaping hole in their little trio was filled up by Marlene, who had rushed over after helping the twins up. The blonde looked curiously towards James and Sirius, who collided in a hug and simply fell into a heap of snow. Unfortunately, Remus was standing behind James and was as such dragged into the pile of snow as well. Remus looked disgruntled as he said something, but it must've been funny because all three of them burst into laughter.

"Maybe James should give up going after Lily and simply pursuit Sirius instead," Marlene spoke in an undertone towards the two of them, crossing her arms across her chest. Lily let out a laugh to which Cathleen also joined in.

"They'd make a cute couple, wouldn't they?" Cathleen spoke.

"They already are," Lily remarked.

Cathleen let out a giggle, placing her hands over her mouth to hide the sound of her laugh from the boys. Then, suddenly, the smaller brunette grabbed her hand in one hand and then reached out towards Marlene, who was already expecting her hand and practically held it out for her to take. Then, Cathleen pulled the two girls towards the greenhouses, her hands intertwined with hers.

…

"There you are!"

Dorcas Meadowes was leaning against the counter of the many tables scattered throughout this particular greenhouse where they would be working on something. At first glance, Dorcas Meadowes looked like Cathleen Dunbar's twin sister. The two of them liked to trick people on frequent occasions and Lily was not immune to their tricks. It didn't help that they were almost the same height. Where Cathleen had rounder features, Dorcas was more angular and sharp. But, they had the same brown hair and bright, soul-searching amber eyes. With her ivory skin and the freckles dotting her cheeks, Dorcas Meadowes looked like a supermodel.

Beside her, Alice Prewett popped up, peering around Dorcas with her bright brown eyes to look towards the three girls that had walked inside. Alice was tall with long blonde hair that was pulled into a ponytail. Her robes were too big for her curvy frame just like everything she always wore. But, the girl was beautiful and could easily captivate the room if she wanted to. She grinned, the blush rising quickly to her cheeks as she reached out to wave at the two newcomers. "Where were you guys?"

"Potter, Black, and the twins started a snowball fight," Marlene supplied, walking over and flopping on the chair two down from Dorcas. Cathleen moved into the empty seat between Dorcas and Marlene. "Lily and I got trapped up by the school until Potter won the snowball war and then Cathleen sent him into a pile of snow."

Dorcas let out a snicker. "Ahh, the cousinly love I've come to enjoy," she responded.

Cathleen gave a brief dramatic bow.

Lily let out a quiet laugh at her friend's antics. She dropped her bag onto the greenhouse floor beside Marlene's before slipping into the chair beside of her closest friend. "Yeah, it was quite amusing to see Potter being thrown and quickly buried in a giant pile of snow," Lily admitted to her friends.

Her friends let out a laugh. "Well, you know Potter," Alice responded. "Always does anything with everything he's got, except for his school work, of course. That's got to be an admirable quality to you, Lils."

The red-head blinked, confused. "Why wouldn't it be?"

Dorcas rolled her eyes before giving her a simple smirk. "Come on, Lily. Everyone knows that you hate James Potter. He's constantly asking you out and pulling pranks on you in an effort to get your attention. Plus, add in the fact that he bullies your best friend, sorry Marlene, your best male friend and it would be perfectly understandable if you did actually hate the bloke's guts."

"I don't hate him," Lily responded. Both Dorcas and Alice raised an eyebrow. "I may highly dislike what he calls fun and his arrogant behavior and the fact that he always seems to find a habit of putting dungbombs in my bookbag in an attempt to win my affection. Though, if he really knew me, he would know that being a show-off and a bully is in no way to catch my eye. But, saying hate is a really big thing. Even after everything that Potter has done, I don't hate him."

"That's good," Cathleen spoke, folding her arms over her chest. "You don't need to be holding onto all that negativity. It's not healthy for you."

Lily felt like that was a jab at something else and promptly refused to acknowledge the comment from her friend. Before any of them could move to continue the conversation, Professor Sprout opened the door to the greenhouse, dragging in Sirius Black by his ear and James Potter by the arm. The rest of the Marauders and the twins followed behind the struggling students and the disapproving teacher. While Peter dutifully followed James and Sirius, Remus and the twins moved over towards them.

"Hi Jimmy, hi Olly," Alice beamed, waving at them. The twins gave a sheepish grin at the group of girls, coming to a stop behind Lily. She looked up at the twins. Both of them were tall and skinny with dark brown hair and light freckles dotting their cheeks. The two were dressed almost identical with the major tell being the fact that they had styled their hair in the opposite direction from the other. Lily still didn't know which one was which and she felt bad.

"Hey Evans," one of them spoke, giving her a sheepish grin. The other one gave her a tooth grinned. "How's your morning been?"

"Okay, other than being delayed by your snowball fight," Lily teased.

"Sorry," the twin with the toothy grin responded. "That was my fault, not Olly's." So, that's Jimmy, she thought to herself. Jimmy had his necklace out on his Gryffindor tie. It was in the shape of a sun, glinting brightly because of the light. And, his hair was pushed upwards to the left. Behind her, she vaguely heard his name and then his left hand reached out to catch a vial of ink, catching it in his grasp.

Beside him, Olly seemed standoffish, looking around confused. His hair was styled the exact same way except his hair was angled to the right. He caught the object that Jimmy passed him with his right hand, turning it over in his hands as he did. His necklace was out and it was a bright star.

The notion that the two of them were essentially wearing the same exact thing was an amusing prospect to her.

And, somehow, Lily thought, that described the twins perfectly.

Hey, I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter! I had a lot of trouble with this chapter actually. I know where I want to go and how I want things to happen, but starting a story has always been my biggest problem. So, that's one of the major reasons for this delay. Another is school stuff, you know how that all goes, especially in college (fun times).

But, I hope you guys review/favorite/follow to get notified of the next chapter and I'll see you guys then!