Hey everyone! Here's Chapter 2 of what I hope turns out to be a great story. Here's my take on what really happened as James and Lily grew up. Please read and review as much as you want. As I forgot to mention in the previous chapter, I own nothing. I'm a J.K. Rowling wannabe, but not the real thing. Sigh... if only. Anyway. Read, enjoy, tell your friends. Meanwhile, I'll keep writing so Chapter 3 comes in quickly. Thanks! :)

Lily's eyes began to tear up as she turned her back on her once-best-friend, Severus Snape, and climbed through the portrait hole. It was so hard to let him go. But her friends were right.

"He's such a creep!" they said. "Lily, people like Snape are just bound to be Death Eaters. Nothing you can do about it."

But Lily absolutely refused to believe them. She could see as well as the others that Snape wasn't always nice. She could see that he really hated some people. But a Death Eater? That required a real evil, a pure hatred for all things Muggle, and a selfishness that put some people higher than others in mind. Lily could see Lucius Malfoy becoming a Death Eater. Maybe even Goyle, since he had no brains to tell him otherwise. In fact, she guessed that was where they were right that minute, Voldemort's inner-circle, having graduated years ago.

But Severus? No, she couldn't see anything like that in him. He might have strange tastes in friends, but surely he wasn't like them himself.

But Lily was wrong. She had seen the truth in his eyes today when he had called her 'Mudblood.' The person she once saw as a friend and an ally through the years when magic seemed so new and confusing, she now saw the angriness that he had been hiding. And now he had the audacity to slither back here and beg for forgiveness?

"Ha!" She said aloud to the seemingly empty common room.

But for the second time that day, she had been wrong. Invisible to her, someone was sitting on the chair by the fire, reading a letter.

James Potter had snuck down the stairs with his Invisibility Cloak to read a letter from his mum. The rest of the Marauders were still awake in their beds, but James was afraid to see what the letter said.

His family was pureblood, and none of them were marked down as blood traitors. But still, You-Know-Who was gaining power, and everyone seemed to be getting hurt. Like his parents, James firmly believed that You-Know-Who had to be stopped. But Voldemort didn't seem to care much about blood status anymore. Now he was killing anyone who stood in his way. The Potters were afraid to fight. James's parents believed that making waves at a time like this was simply too dangerous. James, however, wanted to fight. Not doing anything at a time like this was too dangerous. He shook his head of thoughts and turned to his letter.

Dear James,

How are you? I hope you're safe at Hogwarts. I'm sorry I forgot to send cookies again. It's been a long week.

I'm afraid your father's not feeling so well. It's flu season, and he's caught it from one of his co-workers. I've been feeding him lots of soup, and I'm sure he'll be back on his feet in no time.

It's lucky for us, though, that your father hasn't been able to go to work. Death Eaters have somehow penetrated the Auror Office. Word is that they were rooted out before they could get any real information, but there's always the chance they were able to Confund someone. The Ministry is in a panic. People are afraid to speak to each other, because no one knows who's in their right mind and who's not. Luckily, you're father is not suspected. After all, he was right here with me the whole time. But imagine how close he was. Gives you a shock doesn't it?

James, I need you to promise me you won't cause trouble for a while now. I know you and your friends have your little adventures, but please! Keep to yourself until this whole thing blows over. You can do that for me, can't you?

Your father's already on a sickbed, and I can't stand to think you might be headed there next. So, please, just for me, keep to your studies. Your such a smart boy, James. Please promise me you'll keep a low profile.

Love,

Mum

James shook his head. His mother didn't understand a bit. He and his friends were doing all they could to prepare for a fight. James knew they would be the fiercest fighters against the Dark. Sirius didn't like to talk about it, but James could see the years of hatred for his family's beliefs building up. And Remus, who had such a hard life as it was, Remus never compromised good.

And a werewolf on our side will sure give those Death Eaters a run for their money. James smirked to himself.

And then there was Peter. Peter sometimes doubted himself, but James knew that when the time came, Peter would be there to fight with the rest of them. The Marauders made their reputation known. Already they were fighters, rebels, making a name for themselves. Ready at each second of everyday for a fight

Lost in thought, he hadn't even noticed a tearful Lily make her way into the common room until she spoke.

"Ha!" The shock of hearing another voice in the room made him jump. The Cloak cascaded to the ground making him visible once more. He looked up to see a red-eyed, red-haired Lily glaring at him.

"Are you spying on me?" she spat at him.

"I- what? No, course not!" he said. "I was just-" He held up his letter.

Lily glanced at the letter then back to James.

"Writing a letter to your mum? And you needed to be invisible for that?" She scowled at the discarded cloak on the floor.

"Uh- yeah." James said, carefully folding his mother's letter and putting it in his pocket. "I guess I'll go to bed now. Unless you want me to stay?" He wriggled his eyebrows and took a step closer.

Lily recoiled, fully repulsed by his over-confidence. "Why on earth would I want you to stay?"

He gave a lopsided smile and brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Well I don't know. You just look so upset. I figured you could use a little comforting." He took a step closer and slid his arm around her.

Lily remembered Severus's words, "He fancies you." She pushed James away. "If you remember, part of the reason I'm upset is because of you."

"Is this about what happened with Snivellus?" James asked, no longer smiling. "Come on, Lily. You know that wasn't my fault! Snape is Death Eater to the core, everyone knows that."

Lily blinked furiously. "No he's not! He's always been good to me-"

"Oh, yeah? Like today he was so good to you? Today when he called you- called you that name?" James's face was turning red and his voice was on the verge of shouting.

"Shush, James!" Lily said quickly. "You'll wake up the whole-"

"No! You listen to me!" he interrupted again. "I'm actually trying to defend you! I want him and all his followers gone. And I won't stop until he's defeated. Until they're all defeated! Rules no longer apply anymore. Can't you see that people are going crazy with fear, and that I've got to get ready now? Two years and we'll be out of this bloody school, and you'll be right on top of their list! You don't know what kind of danger you're in, Lily!"

"I don't know the danger I'm in? James, listen to yourself! You're talking about taking down all of Voldemort's forces single-handedly. No one can do that, James. It's impossible. You're just going to hurt yourself if you try. Meanwhile, you're picking on innocent people because of your ridiculous dreams of playing the hero. Grow up! You're definitely not going to defeat anyone by hanging them by their ankle in midair. Sooner or later, you'll have some big enemies in some high places and then you'll be no good for anyone." Lily was seething. She could still see Snape earlier today crying out as James and his friend "Have some compassion! You won't win by picking on innocent people!"

"Innocent? I'd hardly call Severus Snape innocent. Don't pretend like you don't know the only place he's headed is You-Know-Who's inner circle." James took a moment of pleasure as she scowled at her shoes. "Besides, how can you not fight? We are the only thing keeping him from gaining total control."

"What? You think I don't want to fight? Everyone I know is in danger! He plans to wipe out the entire Muggle population! Everything that I grew up knowing is at stake. My mum, my dad, my sister-" James was surprised to see the tears appear in her eyes again.

"Oh boy, Lily- I'm sorry-" He reached out a hand to comfort her.

Lily took a step back from the hand. "I can handle myself, James. This isn't one of your silly Marauders games. This is my reality. I'd give my life five times over if I could keep my family safe." Her shoulders shook with a sob.

James said nothing. He kept his head down as she slowly walked from the common room to collapse on her four-poster bed in the dormitory.

James sighed. He'd seen her defensive before, but never so passionately.

That was one of the reasons he liked her. She always fought on the right side, for the right reasons. James couldn't remember a time when she wasn't able to call him out on being a total prat. I'd give my life five times over to keep my family safe.

He sighed. A life was a lot to loose. In his dreams of defeating the Dark Lord, never did he see himself dying. It was so final, dying. He needed to be alive to keep his family safe, to be with Lily, and to fight alongside her.

Slowly, he took the folded letter out of his pocket. Then, once he found some parchment and a quill he wrote a hasty, yet earnest, reply to his mother, promising to stay safe.

Whoa! That took a pretty dramatic term really quickly. Still, there's plenty more to come. Review please! I'll try to have Chapter 3 up as soon as possible.