Back to the Marauders: Starlight-Mist
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series and all its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

Hello Readers!

So, I realize that school starts on September 2nd and it would be odd if all the first years already knew their way around Hogwarts, so in this story, school starts on the 1st of September. Remus and James came to Hogwarts for Remus' transformation on the 28th of August; Sirius and Peter were busy. The only other thing I would like to say is that I have decided to split each day up into two chapters (This is future me adding more to the note that I already rewrote from the very original: yes, you do not need to know every last detail about teenage life, but that is exactly what past me did...don't worry, I get my act together later on and have longer gaps in time between chapters).

Please Enjoy,
Starlight Mist

September 3, 1977
(Still Day 2 - The Past)

Lily considered herself a very trusting person, but there were two kinds of people she was always wary of. In her mind, she called them secret keepers and turnabouts. Secret keepers were people involved in something that would forever follow and haunt them, never letting them have peace. Based on what Livi had mentioned to her about Liesel's nightmare and avoidance of answering questions specifically, Lily found herself labeling Liesel as a secret keeper. It wasn't only her nightmare that made her think this, but also the way that Liesel was always on the ready. Her prowess at dueling the day before, and how she was always alert was scary. It was almost as if she was anticipating an attack from somewhere and that everyone was her enemy. However, being a secret keeper didn't make someone a bad person.

Turnabouts were a different story; they could definitely be bad people.

Turnabouts are kind of like chocolate bars when you put them in your pocket, Lily mused as she walked towards the Great Hall, her mind on autopilot. As the day goes on, you keep delaying eating it. But the moment you are hungry for it and pull it out of your pocket, it's a melty mess.

It was kind of like her relationship with Petunia. They had been so close to each other, right up until she found out she had magic. Lily frowned, remembering how Petunia had taken hours to write the letter she sent to Dumbledore, writing drafts upon drafts. However, when Dumbledore politely told her that she couldn't come, that had been when she turned. Lily remembered the bitter sting she felt in her heart upon hearing Petunia call her abnormal. A freak. Lily scoffed, remembering how she had run to Severus for comfort. If she really thought hard about it, she could still feel his arms wrapped around her body, holding her close and telling her that everything would be alright and not to listen to Petunia.

He was right, up until the day he had turned too.

What was it that caused people to hate her? To turn on her? To betray her? She remembered the instance, clear as day, how she had just finished telling James off when he had said it. The word that he promised he would never call her. Mudblood. A filthy witch, unworthy of magic. Beneath everyone. Useless. A freak.

Lily remembered the salty tears that had streamed down her face when she got back to the dorms. She remembered how she had thrown herself on her bunk bed and cried, the other girls crowding around her in comfort. She also remembered how Snape had come to the Gryffindor Tower to beg for her forgiveness, telling her that he was really just lonely. She even remembered how it had been the shy Alice White who had stormed up to her and told him off, telling him that he had Avery and Mulciber and all his other Slytherins.

To this day, Lily still found it unforgivable, how he had betrayed her.

Lily was jolted out of her thoughts as she was thrown to the floor, her breath knocked out of her lungs. Looking up, she realized that she had just walked into the edge of the Gryffindor table. Her face felt hot from embarrassment and she tried to ignore the laughing from the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. It was the Slytherin table that was hardest to ignore, their loud jeers of, "Stay on the floor, where you belong, Mudblood!" ringing loudly through her ears. Against her better judgement, she looked over at the table, noting the evil sneers. What hurt the most, however, was that the man who had once been her friend was laughing with them.

She turned away, and made to stand, only for a hand to be extended to her.

"Are you okay?" James asked, worry laced in his eyes as he pushed his glasses up his nose with the other hand. She tentatively accepted his hand, allowing him to help her to her feet. She nodded quietly as she brushed off her pants, then took a seat at the table next to him.

"Day dreaming?" the Head Boy asked her, pouring her a glass of juice; somehow, he knew her preference for orange juice instead of pumpkin juice.

"More of kicking myself for my past mistakes," Lily replied, accepting the glass James had poured her, though not without a quick sniff to see whether he had spiked it with anything. James saw her action, but politely pretended not to notice as he took a sip of his own drink.

Across the hall, a dark-haired man with dark eyes frowned at the proximity between the prat known as James Potter and the fiery tempered head girl. Nothing could erase the hurt he felt upon realizing that he had hurt her once again by laughing at her little mishap, even the sharp pang of jealousy he had felt when Potter had helped the lithe girl to her feet. He pretended to ignore how she had sat next to him, and he tried to ignore how he had poured her a drink (orange juice, he was sure - she had never really liked the taste of pumpkin juice).

However, he could never ignore the damage he had done to Lily, her self esteem, and her trust.

Severus spent the rest of breakfast vaguely listening to the conversations occurring between his housemates, laughing and frowning when needed, but mostly focusing on the interactions between the two Head Students. When had Lily and James grown so close? Was it because they were Head Students now? Part of him wondered whether they were in a secret relationship, but the other part of him whispered that she would never fall in love with James. Or at least he hoped that was true.

As he watched the two talk, mostly casual conversation, it seemed, he found himself again motivated to write her an apology.

He had sent numerous letters of over the past years, but she never replied to any of them. On the average day, she might nod to him in the hallways, but most days, she simply walked by him without a glance. And he returned the favor. The only time she even came close to smiling at him was when neither of their friend groups were around.

He cherished those half-smiles, which were slightly more than a nod and slightly less than an acknowledgement.

The good days were when they had to work together on group projects. They never talked about anything other than the assignment, but even talking was wonderful to him. Just being close to her was wonderful, seeing the way her eyes lit up when she was passionate about something. Or watching her bite her bottom lip in her adorable little way when she didn't understand a concept. He even loved how she huffed when something didn't turn out the way she expected it to.

His favorite days, however, were when they had Potions together and were partnered together - once in a blue moon, but nevertheless enough to leave him on Cloud Nine.

Lily was outstanding at Potions, but he was better, and that he loved. Unlike what his classmates thought, it was not the fact he was proving his slightly superior blood, but that he could teach her. He could hold her hand in his and help her chop ingredients, he could whisper in her ear how many stirs the potion needed, and best, he could smile at her when they finished their potion first and she would smile back. Her smile was worth more than a hundred suns.

As Snape was thinking about Lily at the Slytherin table, Hermione was still thinking about Trelawney's prophecy.

What does the part 'Come to death, thrice shall be / Yet saved thrice by the special three / Who know naught of their unique power / To change the world, in its darkest hour' mean? James and Lily were only ever at danger from Voldemort once he found out about the prophecy, and even then, there wasn't enough to have three attacks against them. So who is going to be faced with death three times? Could it somehow be me? I do seem to have a penchant for winding up in danger. Also, who are the special three? And what is this unique power? This is so frustrating, Hermione groaned to herself.

"Whoa there, calm down," Sam gasped from beside her.

Hermione looked down to note that she had just squeezed a roll of bread to crumbs in frustration. Sighing, she swept the pile of crumbs to a corner of her plate.

"You know what? Let's go back to our dorms," Sam suggested. "We can all do homework together and finish our work. You know that famous saying, work before play!"

"Oh, I already finished the homework," Hermione replied timidly, almost expecting the annoyed groans of Harry and Ron to follow. However, Sam simply looked at her, then shook her head in disappointment, muttering something about 'goody-two-shoes just like Remus and Lily'. Hermione frowned; did she really want to be a perfect student in this life? After all, this was her chance to live the life she had never been able to live. For the first time, she could be someone new.

Nah...there are too many books in the library I haven't read, she sighed.

Later that day, the four Marauders found themselves gossiping in their room, and what other than about crushes? James was the current topic, and the dark-haired young man scowled as the three other boys poked fun at his 'undying love for his dearest Lily-Flower'. Pah! They would never understand.

James popped a jelly bean in his mouth, chewing the sweet flavor of a strawberry.

"Don't you think it is time to move on. Prongs?" Sirius asked, to which he received a pillow to the face.

"Now, why would I ever give up on a girl with the prettiest smile in the universe and a flaming hot temper with hair to go with it?" the seeker with unruly hair asked, sneaking a hand into Remus' bag of jelly beans and helping himself to another handful. "It's fun to have a challenge, and I don't know if you noticed, but she accepted my hand at lunch."

"First time for everything?" Peter joked.

James glared at the timid boy for a few seconds before throwing a jelly bean at him. Peter just shrugged, then turned the conversation to Sirius' love life, which was always an interesting topic. The young man was a well-known playboy at Hogwarts, and much to his disdain, James had come across many conversations of 'how good he was in the sack'. Eww.

"I'm thinking of a certain Gryffindor woman with beautiful dark skin and a strong personality," Sirius smiled, tossing a jelly bean up in the air. "The one and only Mindalaca Carver."

"Isn't she the one from first year that decided she wanted to be the Minister of Magic?" Peter asked as he too consumed a jelly bean.

"No, Wormtail, that was Lily," James replied at the same time Remus said "that was the Gryffindor Jenny girl."

"Maybe all three?" Peter suggested.

"Probably," James shrugged. "Anyways, I probably should get going back to the Head dorms. I have some homework I need to finish."

"Nope," Sirius denied, blocking his way, "you've been neglecting us, so I am sorry to say, we are holding you hostage here."

James sighed and wished he was back at the Head dorms.

Meanwhile, at the dorms, Lily lay on her bed holding a plain white envelope. A messenger owl has delivered it minutes ago, and she was still debating over whether to open it or not. The familiar scrawl on the front of the envelope told her it was Snape, and that alone was enough to make her want to burn it. But at the same time, she had read all the other letters he had sent. Sighing, Lily slid her finger under the lip of the envelope. She winced when she didn't get her finger away from the edge and gave herself a paper cut. A quick healing charm quickly removed the blood and sealed the wound.

Biting her bottom lip, Lily opened the letter and began reading.

Dear Lily,

I suppose my efforts for apology are futile, but I still am compelled to try. That day, years ago, was the product of anger clouding my judgement. I've told you before my hatred for feeling weak, and something about James Potter is always able to make me feel inferior. The fact that you were helping me was an even worse blow, not because of anything in particular, but just needing help and almost accepting it in front of Potter didn't sit well with me. I never meant to call you a Mudblood as an insult. I was just trying to deflect my pain. I'm sorry for hurting you and yet again ask for your forgiveness.

You know, I don't even know if you read my letters. You never respond, but I like to believe you still care about me. Or that you care enough to listen to me.

Anyways, how have you been? We have really fell out of touch. Are you enjoying your Head duties? Everyone knew that you would be Head Girl; you were always a smart one, Lily. The year has been pretty normal for me. I'm rooming with Avery, Lucius, and Mulciber again. They are still loud and obnoxious, but at least they consider me a friend. Most of the Slytherins still begrudge me for being a half-blood. Bellatrix Black in particular lacks respect for me. The worst part about it is that Lucius has been fixated on Bella's sister and he's been trying to get closer to Bella in order to get to Narcissa. Eww.

It's not too late for us to be friends again. It's never too late. I just hope you have it in your heart to someday forgive me. I wait for that day, Lily.

Love,
Severus

Lily once again sighed before levitating the envelope over to the shoe box she kept in her closet, which was filled with similar letters from her once-friend. The letters had started after The Incident and had slowly tapered off the year before, but it seemed he was trying yet again. Why did he bother?

The red-headed girl pushed herself off her bed, plucking her nightgown, towel, and hairbrush and heading to the bathroom for a shower. She opened the door, and immediately cursed her luck as she stopped dead in her tracks. There, with just a white towel wrapped around his waist, stood James Potter. Was this some stupid romance story or something? James had obviously just come out of the shower, for small beads of water were dripping from his hair and trickling down his chest. Steam rose around him and seemingly having felt her entrance, he turned and caught Lily's gaze.

The female Head student stuttered as she tried to find something to say and break the silence.

Unable to find anything, she reached behind her, her fingers fumbling at the doorknob as she tried to open it. Finally, her fingers twisted the doorknob the right way and she stumbled backwards out of the bathroom. Closing the door, she slid down the back of it, trying desperately to erase the sight from her mind, but it was much too late...James Potter was one fit man.

And with his slight-improvement in personality? He was definitely boyfriend material. Definitely.

Author's Note:

Shoutout to nikyta, lindz4567, bloodredblackeningabyss, worldtravelingfly