Chapter Two:
It was getting a little late in the Fall season to be relaxing outside, James noticed, as goose bumps danced along his forearm. Halloween was approaching, and students were taking every opportunity to enjoy the rapidly disappearing nice air.
"This is bullocks," growled the boy to his left.
Four boys in particular were lounged around, and up in, one of the many trees located on Hogwarts grounds. Little Peter Petigrew was snoozing on the grass, a few feet away from the sturdy Oak. A butterfly was making friends with his tossled hair. Sirius Black leaned against the tree and took a long drag from his cigarette, while keeping his eyes trained on a gaggle of girls sunbathing by the lake. On the lowest branch sat Remus Lupin, reading a book about Grindewald and playing with a hole in his robes. Sitting against the tree next to Black, doing nothing inparticular besides staring at the grass, sat the forth boy. There was nothing particularly eyecatching about James Potter's appearance, besides his decidedly disheveled hair. While already a popular wizard before stepping into Hogwarts (due to a pure blood line, old money, and a father who is Head Auror) James made a name for himself within the first year. With enough personality for all four boys, enough Quidditch talent for an entire team, a troublespree worthy of expulsion plus the cleverness to avoid it, smarts, and charm, James took the castle by storm. He was a Gryffindor to the core. Fiercly loyal to his friends and made it his personal goal to put a smile on everyone's face, save for the Slytherins and Filch. He quickly became a psuedo-celebrity, the boy girls vyed for attention from. He became the boy professors loved to teach and were wary of disciplining. With the help of his fellow Marauders, James brought life to dull moments and made happy moments even bigger. They were the happiest group around. Appearing worry-free and always up for a good time.
Then at the beginning of Fourth Year, everything changed. The bliss came unhinged. James Potter came back to school a completely different person. Long gone was the carefree boy, replaced by a brooding and quiet teen. The pranks slowed down and eventually stopped. The parties were less of a celebration, and more of an emphasis on alcohol. The teachers looked at the boy with pity. Girls wanted to fix him. Nobody knew what happened or what caused this lively boy to withdraw. They attempted to help until he pushed them all away.
"He's a right git, I'm telling you." Sirius Black uttered, after exhaling a lungfull of smoke. "Gave me a T on my essay when McKinnon got an O, and I copied her word for word."
Remus Lupin rolled his eyes from up in his perch, before tossing a twig at Black's head. "You really need to start doing your own work. It's 6th year and I can count the essays you've written yourself on one hand. How do you expect to get a job after graduating, if you don't know anything?" Remus asked him.
"Easy," Sirius smirked up at Remus, "I just won't be a werewolf. That helps, right?" Sirius snubbed his cigarette on the tree bark and went to light a new one.
"Well, I wouldn't be to sure about that," Remus raised his eyebrows challengingly, "I may keep this conversation in mind come the next full moon."
"Like I'd ever be intimdated by a little kitty," Sirius drawled, "One tiny growl and you'll go hide in the corner."
Remus rolled his eyes again and muttered something about 'arrogant gits' before returning to his book.
"Prongs," Sirius nudged the boy next to him with his foot, "what's the plan for tonight? Wanna break into Syltherin common room and leave a little present?"
"Huh?" James grunted, tearing his attention away from the ground to look at his friend. "Oh...uh, nah. Let's go to Hogsmeade."
Sirius glanced up at Remus, who gave him a stern eye, then focused back on James. "Iduno, mate. You know I love firewhiskey more than the rest of 'em, but it's getting a little old doing the same thing every night. It'd be cool to plan an entire day of torture for Snivellus and we could make-"
"Nah," James interrupted him, looking back to the ground. "Let's just get off the grounds tonight, Padfoot. We can plan pranks later."
"Oh, come on, Prongs! I offered you Snivellus! You never used to turn that shit down!" Sirius stormed. He was starting to get a little frustrated, and planted his feet on the grass in front of James.
"Sirius," Remus began, "maybe-"
"No! Shut up, Moony. Stop babying my so-called best mate over here. He keeps weaseling out of any opportunity for fun," Sirius glared at James. "And come off it, James! You're becoming a down right git. 'We can play pranks later.' Really? You've been saying that all term, but when are you gonna man up and bloody-"
A loud splash from the lake caught all four boys attention. They whipped their heads towards water, with Remus pulling out his wand. As the waves subsided, a figure appeared to be stumbling out of the lake. Drenched to the bone with seaweed stuck in her hair and small, purple creatures nipping at her robes, the girl stabled herself on dry land. After hurriedly removing the robe to evade the pesky critters, she whirled around to face her laughing friends.
"Damn," Sirius breathed, completely forgetting about his anger with James. "Can we petition for a new uniform rule that requires girls' shirts to me soaking wet at all times?" His eyes hungrily roamed over the soaked girl's assets, as she began laughing, too.
"Sirius," Remus hissed as he dropped his book on the former boy's head, "settle down. You already have the attention span of a mutt, I don't think having shagging on your mind more often than it already is will be helping anyone."
"Oh, Moony," Sirius's eyes followed the girl as she joined her group of friends, still picking seaweed from her hair. "It's impossible for me to think of shagging any more than I already do. There is no actual time of day that I am not actively thinking about it. Usually it's more than thinking, though," he threw in with a wink.
"Really?" Peter's groggy voice came from a few feet away. "So when you're thinking about pranking Snape, you're also thinking about shagging him?"
"Bloody Hell, Wormtail!" Sirius gagged. "Not shagging him. Merlin no. But yes, it's possible to think about pranking him and shagging a girl at the same time. Like that leggy redhead that still hasn't bothered to dry herself off yet. I am definitely thinking about shagging her right now."
"Who is that, anyways?" Peter questioned. "Isn't she a Ravenclaw fourth year? That's pretty young, Padfoot. Even for you."
"No way does a 4th year have a chest like that," Sirius shot him down immediately. "Besides, looks more Hufflepuff than Ravenclaw to me."
Peter squinted his eyes, "I can't really see what color her tie is."
"Really, you're looking at her tie, of all things?" Sirius shook his head in disappointment.
"She's a Gryffindor," Remus volunteered from up in the tree.
Sirius's eyes shot up to his observant friend. "Gryffindor? Hmm, interesting. Have you gotten with that, Moony?" Sirius smirked at his mate.
Remus rolled his eyes and muttered, "That's Lily Evans. She's a 5th year in our house, not a 4th year. She's a prefect as well, so I know you guys have seen her around."
"So observant!" Sirius exclaimed. "Now please tell me you got all wolfy with her."
"No," Remus glared, "you know I haven't slept with her, so come off it."
"What about you, Prongs?" Sirius nudged his friend again.
"Never seen her," James yawned and flicked a blade of grass.
Remus rolled his eyes again, and positioned himself into a sitting position. "You guys are joking, right? Lily Evans? Doesn't ring a bell?"
"You fancy her or something, mate?" Sirius asked while James started packing up his bag.
"No," Remus was starting to turn a little red from frustration. "I'm just shocked you haven't even noticed her. She may not be in our classes, but she's always around. She's really smart and-"
"Moony, you lost me at 'smart.'" Sirius drawled. "Not everyone spends all day doing prefect duties and holing up in the library. That's not exactly my definition of 'always around.'"
Remus ignored the comment, and continued, "She eats meals at the same table as us every day. Cheers for the same Quidditch team. Oh, and, she's only been in a constant prank war with your little brother since our third year."
"Regulus?" Sirius asked, face filled with aprehension.
"Yeah, you remember all those days where he comes down to breakfast with something like purple skin or breasts? When he hijacked the Pitch's microphone and sang the Durmstrang Alma Matre? When those baby ducks followed him all day and he laid an egg? About a thousand other pranks? That was Lily."
"Well, bloody hell. I always figured the snakes were hazing him or something," Sirius mused. "How perfect is that, Prongs? We've got someone following in our footsteps with Snivellus."
"Splendid," James muttered while shouldering his bag. "I've got to head in for detention."
"What? When'd you get detention?" Sirius yelped, as Remus jumped down from the branch.
"Earlier today, Filch didn't like the way I was looking at his cat or something," James rubbed the back of his neck.
"Damn, that's not even worth it," Sirius lit up another cigarette. "You're not trying to make a move on my detention record, are you?" Sirius narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the other boy.
"No chance, Padfoot," James rolled his eyes, "I couldn't catch up if I tried. I'll see you tonight."
As he walked away, James heard his mates betting on how many more detentions Sirius could get before Holiday. Stifling a yawn, he trudged up the grassy hill towards the castle. At about ten yards from the doors, he heard a distinct squishing sound. Glancing to his left, he eyed the Evans girl walking in the same direction. She sighed, readjusting her bag's strap. He could still spot some sort of green plant in her wet hair.
"Impervius," James muttered while subtly waving his wand at her. He heard a gasp, but didn't break his stride while walking towards the door. Pushing through the doors, he quickly began climbing the stairs. James didn't stop climbing until he came upon the library. Chucking his bag on a table, James pulled a book off the shelf and began leafing through it.
Hours later, James left the library in his Invisibility Cloak. It was after hours, and getting an actual detention for roaming the halls was not on his list of priorities as he headed for the owlery.
It was late, and he had a letter to send.
A/N: Hi there! New story, new attitude. I wanted to test my pen at a darker drama. Full of secrets, some drama, and romance!
Just to clear one thing up: Originally, I was going to have Reggie cause Lily to fall into the lake. She was going to get angry and start a row, but then I decided to just have her fall in. Wasn't sure how to clearly get that across besides having her laugh with her friends...so now you know!