A/N: So I anyone who has read my last story knows that I love adding in actual JKR text into my stories. It makes them feel more legitimate somehow. So there's a snippet you may recognise in this chapter, but I hope you read through it anyway, even though I'm sure it's very familiar by now. After all, it is a fantastic story.

All J.K. Rowling text is in italics. Here's the proper citation:

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. New York: Arthur A. Levine, 2007. Print.

Lily had to keep reminding herself that they were not at school and prefect duties did not apply to her as they waited for the delivery person. Try as she might, she could not get any details out of James, Sirius, or Remus.

"You'll see," James said mischievously. It made Lily nervous. However, crouched outside in the bushes with James and Sirius while Remus waited to open the door for the pizza delivery person, Lily felt something odd that she had never quite previously experienced – she felt rebellious. And she liked it.

"Okay," James whispered as the Vespa carrying their dinner came into sight on the road. "Lily, on the count of three, cast wingardium leviosa –"

"Why me?" asked Lily, suddenly terrified.

"Don't worry, we all have our part to play," said Sirius, rising just a bit from his crouched position.

"Trust me," said James, and his smirk made his face so bright that Lily could not say no. "On three, point at the Vespa. One…two…THREE!"

Lily whispered her spell just as James whispered a different spell next to her. She didn't catch what it was, but she heard the motor of the bike kick to life just as it rose into the air. The pizza delivery guy looked back just in time to see Sirius rushing from the bushes and jumping on the bike, which immediately zoomed away into the air.

"Damn it! One of these times I'll learn to take the bloody keys with me!" yelled the pizza delivery guy. Lily did not understand – this guy had just seen a teenage boy fly away on his Vespa. Why wasn't he running away screaming?

Lily's confusion continued as James straightened up from the bushes laughing. "Sorry, Ludo," said Remus who was supporting himself on the door frame. "If we had known that it was you coming, we may have given you a break."

"Wait," said Ludo, turning in confusion from Remus to James. "If Sirius is on the bike, and you're in there, who cast the second spell?"

"You know our tricks too well by now," said James.

"He's a wizard?" Lily hissed, as if still afraid he might overhear.

"Of course," said James, laughing. "You didn't think we'd do that to a Muggle? And it's okay to come out, you know. Ludo won't bite."

Lily, who was still crouched in the bushes, finally stood up straight, brushing herself off.

"I don't believe it," said Ludo. "Lily Evans? At the Potter house?"

Now that she could see him clearly, her sight no longer constricted by branches, Lily realised that she recognised the delivery guy. "You go to Hogwarts," said Lily rather thickly. "You play on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team."

"Not anymore," sighed Ludo. "I graduated. Now it's pizza delivering for me, until something better comes along."

"It will," said Remus, handing Ludo some money and relieving him of the pizza. Lily noticed that it was Muggle money that he handed over.

"I'm confused," said Lily as Sirius came riding back on the Vespa (this time on the ground). "How did you know that he wouldn't be a Muggle if you ordered from a Muggle company?"

"The shop's owned by wizards," said Ludo. "There are wizards in this area, but there are many more Muggles, so it's more beneficial for them to masquerade as normal pizza shop owners."

"Lily's charm lasted longer than ever!" exclaimed Sirius as he pulled up next to them. "But it still ran out before I could reach the pizza shop roof. One of these days," Sirius sighed dreamily.

"And hopefully I won't be working that day," said Ludo, though he seemed to find the whole situation greatly amusing. He had a huge smile on his face and kept bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Well, it's been great seeing you all again, but I've got to get back to my shift."

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll see you again, Ludo," said James, shaking his hand. "But listen – you're a great Beater. You really should try out for something professional."

"You think?" said Ludo with a gleam in his eye. "Well, again, must be off." And with that, he swung his leg over his Vespa, started the engine, and took off.

"It was nice seeing Ludo," said Remus as he led them all back inside. He put the pizza on the dining room table as James pointed his wand at the cupboard and plates zoomed toward them, skidding to a halt at each separate place in front of them.

"Yeah, it was always fun playing him on the field," said James.

"And he never reports us for doing under age magic," said Sirius fondly.

"The things you guys get away with," sighed Lily.

"You mean the things we get away with, Evans," said James.

"Yeah," said Remus. "You are officially a part of the Marauders' rebellious ways."

"What will I ever do with myself," said Lily.

"You can't say you didn't have fun," said Sirius, taking a large slice of pizza from the box.

"You're right," said Lily after a small pause when she debated whether or not she should lie. "But that doesn't mean that I'm going to become a regular member."

"Suit yourself," said Sirius, shrugging. James was looking curiously at Lily over his glass of water. Lily busied herself with her food.

"So," she said. "Who do you think is going to become the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?"

"Maybe Dumbledore will do it," said Sirius. "I mean, he's a genius. And he'd be a right kick in the classroom."

"Yeah, but he's the headmaster," said Remus. "I'm sure he has enough to do without taking on the entire Defence Against the Dark Arts curriculum."

"Whoever it is, I hope it's someone who really knows what they're doing. We're going to need it, and I'm not just talking about so we can get good grades," said James.

"This is going to lead to You-Know-Who again, isn't it?" said Lily.

"I dare you to say it," said James, staring her down.

"Say what?" said Lily, but she had a nagging feeling she knew what he meant.

"Voldemort."

Lily gave an involuntary shudder. Six months ago, had James dared her, she probably would have done it in a heartbeat. But that was before the Death Eaters had killed her neighbours, the Browns. That act suddenly brought everything much closer to Lily than she would have liked to ever see it.

"No," said Lily simply and very quietly. Upon seeing her reaction, James didn't push the subject. "So," Lily began weakly, trying to change the subject. "We're all taking Defence. Assuming we get the O.W.L.s. What else are you interested in keeping?"

As it turned out, James, besides wanting to be an international Quidditch star, was also interested in working as an Auror for the Ministry. "I mean, it'll probably never happen," said James, modest for the first time that Lily had ever seen him. "But I figured I'd take the core classes just in case. And I'm keeping Arithmancy, just 'cause I like it."

"I'm taking what James it taking," said Sirius simply.

"How about you, Remus?" asked Lily. "What are you aiming for?"

Remus looked down at the pizza crust on his plate and stayed quiet for a few seconds. Then he said, in the tone of someone who had already given up, "Well – I mean – there are a lot of things I'd like to do –"

Lily continued to look confused, but then Sirius said in a voice of forced calm, as the subject matter clearly angered him, "If there's any bastard out there who won't hire you, they don't deserve you."

"Oh!" said Lily, suddenly understanding, and feeling a pang of something she identified as both sympathy and guilt in her stomach. She never really considered how difficult it would be for Remus to find a job with his condition.

"I have to be realistic, Padfoot," said Remus. "There's absolutely no legislation preventing discrimination against werewolves in the workplace. Trust me, I've done the research. But anyway, I was thinking, maybe, if there was a position at Hogwarts – I mean, Dumbledore made the exception for me to go to school, maybe –" he trailed off.

James and Sirius shot a quick look at each other across the table before James said, "Let's go in the living room. It's much more comfortable there."

"What about the dishes?" asked Lily.

"Don't worry about it, I'll get them in the morning," said James, his back to them as he left the room. "C'mon, Remus, you know where I'm going with this." He walked into the living room, started a fire in the fireplace with his wand, and sat down on the rug. The other three followed suit.

James then conjured four pointed sticks and summoned a large bag of marshmallows from the direction of the kitchen. "Dessert," said James, handing each of the others a stick and spearing a marshmallow and waving it in the flames.

"I haven't roasted marshmallows in ages," said Lily.

"I've never roasted marshmallows," said Sirius. "Muggle traditions are weird."

"Says the guy whose parents mount elf heads on their wall," said James.

"Not my idea," retorted Sirius.

"I used to love when my dad told stories around the fire," said Remus, smiling sadly.

As if on cue, James started.

"There were once three brothers who were travelling along a long and winding road at midnight," said James, staring into the fire. Lily noted how the flames danced in the reflection on his glasses, giving him an eerie look. "In time the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too treacherous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear over the treacherous water. They were half way across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure." James looked up and grinned mysteriously. "And Death spoke to them."

Lily would have interrupted, questioning the ability for Death to take a humanoid form, but she was honestly too captivated by the story.

James continued. "He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, as travellers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers on their magic and told them they each earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him. So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence, a wand which must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death. And so Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the eldest brother.

"Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the river bank and gave it to the second brother and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead.

"And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death, and Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own cloak of invisibility.

"Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way. And they did so, talking with wonder of the adventure they had had. In due course, the three brothers separated to their own destinations. The first brother travelled on for a week or more, and reaching a distant village, sought out a wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally, with the Elder wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the proceeding duel, his enemy lying dead upon the floor. The oldest brother travelled to an inn where he began boasting loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself. That very night, another wizard crept up on the oldest brother as he lay wine-sodden on his bed. The thief took the wand and for good measure, slit the oldest brother's throat. And so Death took the first brother for his own.

"Meanwhile, the second brother travelled to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that had the power to return the dead," at this James picked up a small decorative stone from a jar on a low table next to the mantel and began flipping it in his palm, "and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and delight, the girl who he had once hoped to marry before her untimely death appeared at once before him. Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil." James turned his gaze to Lily, and although the eye contact frightened her, she did not break it. "Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally, the second brother driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself so as truly to join her. And so Death took the second brother for his own."

Turning his gaze upon the other two, James continued. "But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the cloak of invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend and went with him gladly. And, equals, they departed this life."

A long silence followed the end of James's story.

"That was—chilling," whispered Lily after a few minutes. "What was it?"

"You've never heard of Beedle?" said Sirius.

"Have you ever heard of the Grimm brothers?" asked Remus of Sirius in Lily's defence. "Cultural divide."

"So, he's a story teller?" asked Lily.

"The story teller," said James. "He wrote all my favourite tales as a kid. 'The Tale of the Three Brothers' is my absolute favourite though."

"As if we couldn't tell by the fact that you have it memorised," said Remus.

James stared into the fire and smiled. "I used to make my dad tell me that story every night before I went to sleep."

"That explains a lot," said Sirius.

"I think it's sweet," said Lily quietly. "Besides, I'm not one to talk. My favourite faerie tale was Cinderella, the Grimm version. There's amputation and eye gouging in that one."

"Wow, Muggles are sick," said Sirius. "Even by our standards."

Lily curled her arms around her legs and put her chin on top of her knees, lost in thought about the story James had just told them. "Which would you have, then?" she asked.

"What, you mean between the wand, the stone, and the cloak?" asked Remus. "That's a good question."

"The wand," said Sirius. "No doubt."

"Even though he was the first one killed?" said Lily.

"Yeah, but only cause he went about it all wrong. He went rubbing it in other people's faces. It wasn't the wand that got him killed, it was his mouth."

"I guess," said Remus. "But still, I don't know if I'd want that kind of power. I'd like to think that I'd take the cloak."

"I already have one, and I quite like it," said James. "I haven't really lost anyone to make me consider wanting the stone. And I have a special bond with my wand – not an innuendo, Sirius," said James when Sirius opened his mouth to retort. "Anyway, so I don't know. Maybe I wouldn't take any of them. Maybe I'd ask for something else entirely."

"Like what?" asked Remus.

James thought for a moment.

"Like the best racing broom the world has ever seen!" he said enthusiastically. Sirius agreed wholeheartedly. Lily rolled her eyes.

"What about you, Lily?" asked James.

Lily would be lying to herself if she didn't admit that the Elder wand was tempting, but in the end...

"I'd want the cloak," said Lily decisively.

"You lot are boring," said Sirius, lounging back against the couch.

"What do you want to do then, Padfoot? Should I take you for a walk?" said James.

"No," said Sirius. "I just feel like lying here, but I want something to entertain me."

"I've got just the thing," said James. He disappeared upstairs for a few minutes, and when he returned he was hovering a small record player in front of him and carrying a box full with albums. "Yes, Evans," James said before Lily could say anything. "We have Muggle music, too."

"Hey, Joni Mitchell!" exclaimed Lily, going through the stack of records.

"How'd that get in there?" said James, snatching the record away and shoving it under the couch. "Here you are, Padfoot," he said after looking through the pile himself. "Your favourite." He held up the sleeve for The Rolling Stone's "Let it Bleed."

They sprawled around the living room once more. Long periods would go by when they didn't talk, but just listened to the music, or sung quietly along. Remus had a rather lovely voice. Sirius not so much, but that didn't stop him from singing his favourite parts loudly and proudly.

Still, both Sirius and Remus, who were sitting at opposite ends of the couch, were passed out before the record was even finished with side one.

"I swear, every time," said James, throwing a blanket over Remus and Sirius. "They're like children."

Lily wasn't sure what to do. She hated being alone with James because she was always nervous about what to say. James was used to bouncing witty repartee off of Sirius and Remus, and yeah, Lily liked to join in. But without the other two there, there wouldn't be anything to fill the potentially awkward silences. When they were in a group, there was no pressure on Lily, and so she could be naturally funny. But one-on-one was a different story.

"Evans, you ok?" said James, waving a hand in front of her face.

"Yeah, sorry, I zoned out there for a minute."

James looked at her for a few moments, as if he were sizing her up.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" he said after a little while.

Lily swallowed. Her mouth was dry. "Yeah, alright."

The night air was pleasantly cool. A light breeze tugged at Lily's hair and tee-shirt. She crossed her arms not because she was cold but because they suddenly felt awkward dangling at her side. She looked around at the little houses surrounding her. Godric's Hollow looked like a town frozen in time. Above them, the sky was clear and the stars bright.

"I like it here," Lily said quietly. "It's nice. Comforting. It reminds me of something, but I can't quite think what."

"It reminds me of something straight out of a story," said James, playing with his sleeve.

"Like the Three Brothers," said Lily, smiling.

"Exactly," said James. His voices sounded strange. "Lily?" he said after a while of walking in silence.

"Yeah?" Lily said quickly.

James smiled. "Wanna know a secret?"

Lily nodded. She suddenly felt eleven years old again as James flashed her his toothy grin and motioned for her to follow him. They walked through the town square, their footsteps click-clacking into the night. James led Lily to the right, toward the small church. Confused but intrigued, Lily stayed close.

"Just through here," said James, opening the gate to the cemetery.

"This is a little grim, James," said Lily, but she followed him anyway.

They wove through the gravestones. Lily stopped every now and again to get a closer look at the names, which dated back centuries. "How old is this place?" Lily said to herself.

"Old," said James, making her jump. She hadn't realised that he was behind her. "Over here," he said, gesturing for her to come stand next to him. James leaned down and dusted off the name on the grave in front of them, but stood in front of it so that Lily couldn't yet see the name.

"The tale I told you earlier, there's another part," said James. Lily didn't even try to conceal her wonder as she hung on James's every word. "The brothers – they were real. Or so many people think. The brothers' last name was Peverell."

James stepped aside to reveal the name on the gravestone.

"Ignotus Peverell," Lily whispered, reading the name aloud. She turned to James. "But you said you were going to tell me a secret. How's it a secret if that's what so many people believe?"

"Because – I'm related to him. Ignotus Peverell is my great-great-great-however-many-greats grandfather."

"No way!" said Lily, leaning down for a closer look at the gravestone. Then she straightened up, a sceptical look on her face. "Are you pulling my leg because I'm an innocent and naive Muggle-born?"

"No, I swear!" said James. "Look it up in the library when we get to Hogwarts! The Tale of the Three Brothers is supposed to be inspired by the Peverells! And I can show you my family tree if you want!"

Lily's eyes suddenly went wide. "Your cloak!" she said in a whisper, as if afraid of someone overhearing. "Is it – ? It can't be – ?" Lily stammered.

James grinned and shrugged, hands shoved in his pocket as he gazed down at the grave. "Ignotus was the youngest. He would have been the one to take the cloak. And it's been in my family for longer than anyone can remember."

"So," began Lily, a little scared at what the answer would be, "Death?"

"No," said James, shaking his head and looking back up at her. "I mean, I love the story and the drama of it all, but I'm pretty sure it's just a metaphor. Most everyone who subscribes to the Peverell brothers theory also believes that they were just really talented, intelligent wizards who invented the three objects in the story."

Lily paused. "But why haven't you told the others?" she asked, gesturing back to James's house, where Sirius and Remus still slept. "Why is it a secret?

"Sirius already takes the mickey out of me enough for being so invested in a faerie tale. And I can't tell Remus anything without telling Sirius. So, can I trust you?"

"Yes," said Lily, straightening up and looking at James.

After a few moments James broke her gaze. "It's getting late. Should we go back?"

"Yeah, I guess so," said Lily.

They walked back to the house in silence.

"If you want to sleep in a proper bed tonight, we have a guest room upstairs," said James. "Unless you want to cuddle with Sirius on the floor again."

"Ha ha," said Lily.

"I guess I'll head up to bed then," said James awkwardly.

He was half-way to the stairs when Lily said, "Or you could tell me a couple more of these tales from Beedle."

James stopped in his tracks and turned slowly to look at her. His face broke into a wide smile.

"There is this great one about a wizard and his hairy heart."