A/N- Now that school has started up again, I'm planning on getting at least one chapter out per two weeks. I have no clue when I'll be finished with this chapter, but I'm hoping it will be before the weekend is over. Anyway, thank you to my second reviewer, Green Eyes and Glasses! Enjoy!

Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, the whole world would know my name.

James smiled to himself. Patrols on the train with Lily hadn't gone nearly as bad as he'd thought they would. In fact, they'd gone very well. She hadn't yelled at him once. Or threatened to hex him. Or actually hexed him.

James' thoughts were full of Lily when he entered his compartment, but what was waiting for him there, drove all thoughts of Lily from his head. Remus was reading, no surprise, and Peter was finishing the summer Charms essay. No, that was all normal. What wasn't normal was Sirius.

Sirius had pink hair.

James did a double take. Sirius was very, er, protective of his hair, and James was certain he would never allow it to be pink.

"Er…Pads?" James began. Remus looked up from his book and winked at him quickly. James realized that this was Remus' trick, and Sirius had yet to notice it. Remus' Charms skills were almost unmatched; knowing him he had probably charmed Sirius so that his hair looked normal to him, but really, it was pink.

"Yes, Jamie?" Sirius asked.

"It was nothing, never mind." James replied hastily.

Sirius frowned slightly, but a second later, he put it from his mind. "How were patrols with Lily-Pad?"

"Great, actually,"

"James, you might want to change into your robes now. We should be at Hogwarts in about five minutes." Remus, said, looking up from his book briefly to address him.

"Right."

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Lily flopped onto the seat next to Mary. "I'm exhausted, and we haven't even gotten to Hogwarts yet." she complained. "Prefects meetings, patrols," Dorcas and Alice smiled at each other, as Lily continued whining.

"You can't forget that you're taking twice as many N.E.W.T's as the rest of us." Marlene added, smirking.

"That's not true! I'm only taking two more than you!"

"What are you all planning on doing once we leave school, anyway?" Dorcas asked.

Immediately, the mood sobered up.

"Well," Marlene said carefully. "I was thinking about being an Auror."

"Me too," Mary agreed, in a small voice.

"Same," Alice seconded.

"I was planning on being a Healer." Dorcas said.

All faces looked at Lily, expectantly.

"I don't know." She said honestly. "I haven't really thought about it; no, I have, I just don't like to think about it. I guess that's why I'm taking so many N.E.W.T's, I can do almost anything if I want."

Heads nodded in understanding.

"Let's just not talk about it anymore, OK?" Marlene said uneasily.

The girls returned to their laughing, joking, and teasing, but the shadow of their previous conversation remained.

Only Lily was silent. She chewed her lip thoughtfully. The truth was, what Lily wanted was to get married and have children, but also to fight. An evil wizard named Lord Voldemort was persecuting muggle-borns, and it had turned to war. She shook her head. Best not to think about it now. She still had a while before she had to think about these kinds of things.

Lily didn't know how very wrong she was.

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"Firs' years," James smiled as he heard Hagrid's familiar shout. He could barely see Hagrid through the darkness of Hogsmeade station. "Firs' years, this weh! Alrigh' James?" Hagrid called to him.

"Hi, Hagrid!" James yelled back.

"Hagrid!" Sirius waved frantically.

"Er…Sirius? Whas' that?"

James, sensing danger, immediately pushed Sirius forward in the queue, calling over his shoulder at Hagrid, "We'll stop by some time! Bye, Hagrid!"

Sirius turned to James, frowning. "What did he mean?"

"Er…I don't know, Pads."

"Is there something wrong with my face?" Sirius asked, concernedly.

"Of course not."

"What about my hair? Is there something wrong with my hair?"

James choked down a laugh. "You look fine, Padfoot."

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked, his frown deepening.

"Yes, Pads."

"Come on, you two. There's an empty carriage right there." Remus said from behind them.

"Hey, can I join?" Frank Longbottom, the other seventh year Gryffindor, whom the Marauders had kind of inducted as an honorary Marauder, asked. James noticed Frank's eyes sparkling with laughter as he looked at Sirius.

"Sure, Frank," Sirius said, and they launched into discussion about Quidditch.

"When will the spell wear off?" James whispered to Remus.

"Oh, in a couple of minutes, probably,"

"Which one?"

"Well, let's just say that Sirius isn't going to be happy." Remus said, grinning.

"So," Peter said, once they had all been seated. "What's the prank?"

"Well," said Sirius. "I have an idea."

The boys put their heads together, and began planning their last, first prank.

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"Dorcas," Marlene whined. "Can you please scoot over?"

"No, I cannot." The blonde replied.

"I don't think these carriages were made for five." Mary said.

The girls were all packed into one of the school carriages. Alice was staring out the window intently. She was looking at the thestrals. In the summer of Alice's fifth year, the Death Eaters, Voldemort's followers, had raided her house, and killed her father. Alice and her mother had just barely escaped, thus letting Alice see the strange horses that pulled the school carriages.

Lily was also remaining silent. She was going to miss Hogwarts greatly. Hogwarts felt more like home than her small house in Cokeworth sometimes. Lily loved her parents, she really did, but sometimes, they just couldn't understand her as well as her friends did.

She watched as the great castle came into view. All the girls fell silent quickly, savoring the very last, first time they would see their home. They watched as the castle grew closer, and the truth sank in. This was their last year. Their last chance. For every one of them, it meant something different.

This was Alice's last chance to get Frank Longbottom to ask her out.

This was Dorcas's last chance to not fail Potions.

This was Marlene's last chance to win the Quidditch Cup.

This was Mary's last chance to learn about Ancient Runes.

And for Lily, well she didn't really know what she wanted to come out of this year, but it was her last chance to do, well, everything.

In another carriage, there was also silence.

This was Sirius's last chance to pull legendary pranks.

This was Remus's last chance to prove that four seventeen-year-old boys could actually be quiet.

This was Peter's last chance to get a girlfriend.

This was Frank's last chance to ask Alice out.

And for James, it was his last chance to do many things, play Quidditch, prank, but what he wanted most of all was Lily Evans. This was his last chance to get Lily Evans, and James was determined not to fail.

It was bittersweet for the seventh years, that last, first time, but all of them were determined to leave their mark on Hogwarts.

Be careful what you wish, because you just might get it.

A/N-Well, there it is! My best attempt at it, anyway. All reviews are welcome! *hint, hint, nudge, nudge, wink, wink*

Thank you if you've stuck with me thus far!

-MM