"Time to rise and shine, dear Moony!" a rowdy seventeen year old yelled, pouncing on his sleeping friend. Remus groaned and shoved the boy off his bed. For the past six years he had shared a dormitory with his three best friends and had become accustomed to these abrupt wake-up calls.

"Shove off, Padfoot," he muttered, covering his head with his blankets.

"Oh come on! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I'm a free man! We have all year to hunt the ladies before its time to buckle down and join the real world!" Sirius exclaimed giddily.

"Since when do you plan to 'buckle down'?" James asked sarcastically, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and putting on his glasses. Sirius smirked and threw a pillow at his partner-in-crime.

"Come on, Wormtail! Out of bed, time for school!" Sirius yelled, shaking Peter's four-poster bed. Peter muttered something under his breath but got up none-the-less.

The four of them showered and dressed in their robes before heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast. On the walk down they joked and teased each other carelessly, hardly noticing the effect they had on the student body. They were the Marauders, the four most popular mischief makers at Hogwarts, and well-known ladies' men. Whenever any of them decided a girl was good enough to date the news spread like wildfire, and the entire school was alerted if a date or steady girlfriend was in the picture.

As they trekked the familiar journey to their breakfast, they passed many scornful stares and longing sighs. And when they entered the Great Hall there was an excited buzzing from table to table. While James was still single and eligible (despite discontinuing his search for a girlfriend upon realizing the perfection of Lily Evans), and Peter and Remus were continuously available, it was the news of Sirius' very public breakup with his latest fling that sparked the gossip. He flashed his most winning smile in the direction of every girl he passed as he and his friends took their seats at the Gryffindor table.

"It's a new world, boys," Sirius said grinning, filling his plate with French toast, eggs, and bacon. Peter grinned and shook his head in a he'll-never-learn sort of way. James and Remus rolled their eyes and filled their own plates.

They ate in silence, paying little attention to anything that wasn't on the table in front of them until Lily and Sadie joined them.

"Good morning boys," Sadie said brightly, sitting across from the group. Remus was shaken out of his early morning stupor.

"Good morning Sadie. Hello Lily," he said, nodding to each.

"Good morning Remus, good morning Peter. Potter, Black," she added, giving them each a curt nod.

James gulped down a large swig of juice before saying, "Lovely morning, isn't it Evans?" She rolled her eyes and filled her plate.

"Have the schedules been given out yet?" Sadie asked, spreading jam on her toast.

"Not yet. I suppose McGonagall is going to wait until just before the bell rings, as per usual," Remus said, grinning. Sadie smiled back and went about eating her breakfast. Remus stealthily stole glances of her. He had spent the last six years admiring her from afar, and had inconveniently put himself in the friend zone. This year, he pledged, would be different, and he would finally admit how he felt. His only obstacle however had just entered the Hall and taken his seat next to her, wrapping his arm around her waist and kissing her neck.

"Hm, good morning," she said, swallowing the last bite she had taken and giving him a quick kiss.

"Good morning," Will Anderson responded, filling a plate. Will was a sixth year Gryffindor, and had started dating Sadie at the end of the previous year. Remus thought he was polite enough, but there was something about him that made him suspicious. And of course he was dating the girl of Remus' dreams.

Not long after they had all finished McGonagall began to make her way down the table distributing their personalized schedules. When Sadie had received hers she kissed Will and flashed a friendly smile at Remus.

"Have a good first day!" her voice rang out as she headed towards the Entrance Hall with Lily. Remus, Sirius, James and Peter all gathered their bags and filed out of the Hall.

"I'll see you gents later," Will said cheerfully as they departed. Remus rolled his eyes, but was caught by James.

"Give the bloke a break, he's Sadie's boyfriend," James reasoned, nudging Remus in the ribs.

"I know, but there's just something about him that sets me off," Remus admitted.

"Oh, and the fact that he's dating your best friend and biggest crush isn't a tip off as to what that something is?" James teased. Remus grunted and headed towards the common room.

"Where're you off to?" Sirius yelled after him.

"Free period, my good man," Remus called over his shoulder, and chuckled as he heard Sirius curse at his back.

Remus marveled at his good luck. The first period of the day was his to enjoy how he wished, and without any assignments he intended to do some work on the map he and his fellow Marauders were developing.

As he entered the common room of Gryffindor Tower he noticed it was mostly empty except for a snogging couple in the corner. As the portrait swung shut they detached heads, and Remus felt anger rush through his body. Will was tangled up with an unnamed girl Remus recognized as a fourth year. He shot them one meaningful, disgusted look before heading up to his dorm. He could hear Will clambering after him, begging him not to tell Sadie but he ignored the younger boy, slamming the door in his face.

That night after dinner Remus told James what he had witnessed.

"Well you're going to tell her, aren't you?" James asked heatedly. Over the years he had developed a close friendship with Sadie through Remus and also felt obliged to protect her. Remus put his head in his hands.

"I don't know. I know I should, and she most definitely deserves to know, but I've been telling her from the start that he's a wanker and she's getting tired of hearing it," Remus said miserably.

"Who's a wanker?" Lily asked, making the two of them jump. "Sorry, Potter I was asked to give you this by McGonagall," she said handing him a small roll of parchment, explaining her appearance. James took it and set it aside without bothering to read it.

"Thanks," he muttered quietly, resting his elbows on the table.

"Come on now, what's that look for?" she asked Remus, taking the empty seat. A smile escaped him; Lily was always good at reading his expressions.

"Just trying to decide whether or not I should tell Sadie about Will's latest fuck up," Remus said shrugging. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Oh come now, I'm sure it's not that bad. What did he do?" she asked expectantly, clearly used to his antics about what a bad guy Will was for Sadie.

"Nothing big, you know. Remus only caught him snogging a fourth year this morning," James explained with an attitude that suggested there was no issue. Lily looked back and forth between the two. When Remus just looked at her without saying anything she understood it wasn't a prank. Without another word she stood up, crossed the common room and took Sadie by the arm, leading her up to the girls' dorms.

"What do you think they do up there?" Sirius asked having just joined them. Remus looked around at him; he was staring after Lily and Sadie up the staircase to the girls' dorms.

"What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously.

"I often think they decide to have pillow fights in their undergarments…" Sirius fantasized, his eyes glossing over. James' laughter could be heard over the chatter that filled the room.

"Is that really all you think about?" Remus asked, amazed.

Suddenly the entire room went quiet as a loud bang echoed through the tower. Sadie stomped down the stairs and stood at the doorway, searching through the faces in the room, her eyes blazing. When she found what she was looking for she marched straight up to him and crossed her arms forcefully over her chest.

"What's the matter babe?" Will asked sincerely, standing up and rubbing her arms.

"Don't you 'babe' me!" she screamed indignantly, stepping away from his touch. He jumped back slightly and stared at her in confusion. "Is it true?" she added.

"Is what true?" he asked naively. Remus rolled his eyes. He sure is good at playing the innocent, he thought sarcastically.

"Oh don't play dumb. You know what I'm talking about," Sadie snapped, her voice venomous. Will just stared. "Let me give you a hint. It wears a skirt, and you were caught snogging it this morning!" Her expression changed from anger to fury as the color drained from his face. "I think it goes without saying what this means," she concluded, giving him one last lethal look and storming from the room.

Will was left standing awkwardly in the middle of the crowd, under everyone's shocked stares. He flinched slightly when the portrait of the fat lady slammed shut behind his newest ex-girlfriend. Sirius began clapping and soon everyone joined in, forcing Will to slink, wounded, to his own dormitory.

Lily, who had snuck down the stairs behind Sadie, headed for the portrait hole, squeezing Remus' shoulder as she passed. Sirius and Peter decided that a game of Exploding Snap was necessary to distract everyone and went to get their cards.

"Well, mate. She's single again," James said optimistically, clapping Remus on the shoulder. Remus laughed sarcastically and put his head down on the table. It looked like his only legitimate obstacle to Sadie was gone.