"You're late," Professor McGonagall said impatiently. James Potter leaned against the door frame trying to catch his breath.

"S-sorry, Professor, we—ooof!" He was cut off as Sirius Black ran into him from behind. The class laughed as the boys crashed to the floor.

"Whatd'cha stop for?" Sirius complained.

"Ger-off me!" James huffed. Sirius scrambled up and helped his friend to his feet.

"As amusing as this is, boys. You're still late, and now you've disrupted my class." McGonagall scolded putting her hands on her hips as she waited for their explanation.

"We're sorry, Professor. We got lost, and this stupid painting told us to follow him and we got even more lost." James quickly explained.

"We finally got a ghost to give us directions." Sirius concluded finally able to catch his breath. McGonagall pursed her lips.

"Well it is you first day…" She began. James and Sirius looked up at her hopefully.

"I'll tell you what; I won't take house points away from you." They sighed in relief.

"However, I want both of you to write me an essay on the importance of time management; one parchment, front and back. It's to be turned into me by tomorrow morning, no excuses." The grins on their faces quickly vanished as the boys shuffled to the only available seats left. Right behind Lily, to her disgust.

"As I was saying before we were interrupted," McGonagall said turning her attention to the class. "My name is Professor McGonagall and just in case you're lost, this is Transfiguration class." James scowled as he grabbed some parchment and a quill from his bag.

"I expect a lot out of my students," McGonagall continued. "However, if you give me your best effort I will be somewhat lenient with your grades, but you must prove to me that you've done all that you can do." Peter sighed with relief and sat up from his slouched position in the seat.

"Transfiguration is a difficult magic to master, but well worth it in the end. If you would, please turn to page 10 in your textbooks and we will start with the basics."

"This is rubbish," Sirius growled angrily as he and James took seats at the Gryffindor table. "So far, we have to write an essay for McGonagall and have detention with Blakewood tomorrow night for accidently hitting that Ravenclaw with an ink bottle in Defense Against Dark Arts, and we've only been to two classes today!"

"Well look on the brightside," James said trying to cheer up his friend. "We have History of Magic next and the Professor is a ghost, so I don't think he will give out any punishments."

Mary glanced up curiously, "One of our teachers is a ghost?" James and Sirius stared at her in shock.

"Of course he is! How could you not know that?" Sirius asked. "He's been teaching since Hogwarts started. Surely you've heard you parents talk about him!" Mary narrowed her eyes at him.

"My parents are Muggles." Sirius turned red in embarrassment.

"Oh, I see—er, please forget that I said anything." Mary scowled and turned back to her food.

"Blimey," James muttered to his friend, "tough crowd." Sirius nodded in agreement and they quickly ate their lunch in silence.

Lily was bent over a piece of parchment quickly scribbling a letter to her parents. She was supposed to have sent her parents an owl last night, but after all the excitement it had completely left her mind. Quickly reading over it, Lily deemed it good enough and put the letter in her bag; she would send it later. After a brief hesitation, she reluctantly wrote a letter to Petunia as well. Maybe her sister had forgiven her by now; she could only hope.

Remus was sitting across from Lily trying to hide the sudden pain that had shot up his back. He stared at his sandwich and grimaced as the pain slowly went away. It would be a full moon in just three nights…

Lily glanced up from her letter and frowned at him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Remus lied. "I just realized what was in the sandwich I'm eating." Lily put her hand to her mouth and started giggling.

"Not a fan of chicken salad?" She asked. Remus shook his head and put the sandwich down.

"You've ate over half of it," Lily commented. "Lost in thought, are you?" Remus nodded not sure what to say to that. He hadn't expected her to be so observant. He waited for her to start bombarding him with questions, but the redhead only gave him a tiny smile and looked sadly at her letter.

"I know the feeling…"

Lily had never found it so difficult to stay awake in a class before; she felt like beating her head on her desk as Professor Binns droned on and on. What was he even talking about anyway? She'd stopped paying attention half an hour ago when James and Sirius started playing exploding snap with Alice and Will.

"You cheated!" James accused pointing a finger at Alice. She rolled her eyes.

"I didn't cheat; you just don't know how to play your cards right." This resulted into a heated argument that lasted through the rest of the class period.

"That no good, arrogant, annoying…toerag!" Alice fumed angrily as the girls headed for Charms. Lily rolled her eyes as they turned a corner. She suddenly caught sight of Severus and waved; he waved back not as enthusiastically. Lynnette looked at Lily curiously.

"Who was that Slytherin?" She asked.

"My friend, Severus," Lily replied casually.

"How do you two know each other anyway?" asked Will. "I meant to ask you that on the train yesterday."

"We live near each other," Lily explained. "He's the one who told me everything I know about the Magic World."

"It must be tough having a friend in your rival house," Alice commented. Lily shrugged.

"We'll manage."

"Welcome to Charms!" Professor Flitwick greeted his class warmly as the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors took their seats. Lily leaned over and grabbed some parchment out of her bag as the tiny Professor began pacing at the front of the room.

"You will find that Charms is a little easier than Transfiguration, but it is just as important so I expect you to try your best in this class. Charms make up most of the magic you use in day-to-day life and it's my job to make sure you can master it efficiently."

Lily was surprised at how well she performed in that class. She was the first witch to get her feather into the air; Remus had been the first in the class. Flitwick had been very pleased with the two Gryffindors and gave their house 20 points. Lily walked out of the classroom with a small skip in her step.

"That Evans is a know-it-all," Sirius complained as he and James grouchily headed for Potions.

"You're just jealous because she could make the feather levitate and you couldn't," Remus replied walking up from behind them. The two boys rounded on him.

"I wasn't talking to you, Lupin." Sirius snapped irritably. Remus was about to retort when the searing pain shot up his back again; he closed his mouth quickly and hurried away praying that no one had noticed him flinch.

James and Sirius looked at each other.

"What'd you suppose that was all about?" James asked; Sirius shrugged and they continued walking in silence.

Lily plopped onto her bed that night and gave a tired sigh. It had been a very long first day. Luckily, they didn't have any homework, although the Professors had warned them that their nights of freedom would be short lived.

Lily was very disappointed that the only class she had with Severus was potions; she'd hardly got to see him all day. They had been unable to get a conversation in during Slughorn's lecture, and he'd slipped away before she could talk to him at dinner; she wondered how his first day of school had been.

A tap above her head startled her out of her thoughts. She looked up and saw Clove staring at her through the window. Lily scrambled up and opened the window just enough for the sleek black Barn Owl to come through. She hooted affectionately and held her leg out to Lily; Severus had written her a letter.

She relieved Clove of her burden and the owl swooped up to the canopy to perch at Serenity's spot. Lily had sent Serenity to her house to deliver the letters she'd written earlier that day, and the white Barn Owl had yet to return.

"Whose owl is that?" Mary asked getting into her bed.

"Severus'," Lily replied unfolding the letter. Alice snorted.

"You're sending owls now?" Lily shrugged.

"We didn't get a chance to talk today." Alice was about to say something else, but shrugged it off and got under her covers. Lily pulled her curtains closed and read Severus' letter.

Sorry I ran off at dinner. I—er, had some things to take care of. I hope you enjoyed your first day; it's just like I told you it would be, isn't it? I'm doing fair; it would be better if I didn't have to put up with Malfoy (he's one of our Prefects.)It's a long story, but let's just say we're giving each other a hard time right now. Don't worry, though. Darcy and I have a plan. I hope you're having a great time and don't hesitate to hex Black and Potter if you need too.

Write back,

Severus

Lily wondered what Severus was going to do, but she was glad that he'd made a friend. She hoped that whatever he and Darcy were up too; they wouldn't get into trouble over it. She grabbed a piece of parchment and quill and wrote back to him, voicing her worry and asking him for more details about his friend, then giving him a brief summary of her day.

Satisfied with her letter, she pulled her curtains back and quietly called for Clove; the owl reluctantly left her perch and landed on Lily's arm.

"Take this back to Severus," She whispered tying the parchment to the black owl's leg. Clove hooted a farewell and disappeared into the night. Feeling better than she had all day, Lily got under her covers and promptly fell asleep.

The Owl post came in early on the second day of Hogwarts. Thousands of owls flooded in through the windows to find their masters. James Potter looked up as his parents' owl, Noble, landed in front of him. The large Great Horned Owl hooted happily as James handed him a piece of meat. He stuck out his leg and revealed a piece of parchment tied to it.

"Mail already?" James asked in surprise. "I've only been gone two days!" Beside him, Sirius chuckled.

"Looks like your parents are already missing you mate." James didn't reply and untied the letter. Noble gave one last hoot before taking to the skies again.

Sirius glanced over at the other Gryffindors; everyone seemed to be chatting excitedly and laughing, everyone that is, except for Lily Evans. A beautiful white barn owl was standing in front of her, affectionately nipping at her fingers as the redhead read the letter she'd just received. She seemed very downcast and Sirius thought he saw a few tears gathering in her eyes.

"Oy, Evans!" He called, "what's got you down today?" Lily looked up and glared at him.

"Mind your own business, Black!" Sirius shrugged and turned back to his food. He would never understand girls, he decided; you try to be nice and they just snap in your face.

Suddenly, a red envelope landed on his plate. Sirius froze and stared dumbly at it before glancing up and seeing his family owl, Salem, staring back at him. The Screech Owl hooted expectantly, waiting for his master to give him a treat. However, Salem never got his reward because Sirius quickly jumped up and ran out of the Great Hall with the letter cursing to himself as he went.

Lily had watched the whole scene with fascination. She wasn't sure what that letter was, but judging by Sirius' reaction it wasn't something good. Several others had seen as well and were watching Sirius run away with a look of pity on their faces; some were laughing.

On the other side of the room at the Slytherin table, sisters, Bellatrix and Narcissa Black, were looking very smug. Their youngest sister, Andromeda, kept her eyes down and slowly ate her food. She felt horrible for their cousin, Sirius.

Lily poked Alice in the back and raised her eyebrows.

"What's going on?" Alice's eyes twinkled in amusement.

"Sirius just got a Howler." Lily blinked in confusion.

"A what?" Before Alice could answer, a horrible noise coming from outside the Great Hall echoed through the room. A woman's voice could clearly be heard over the noise in the Great Hall. Words like, "SIRIUS BLACK!", "ASHAMED," "GOOD FOR NOTHING," "GRIFFYNDOR," "DISGRACE TO THE FAMILY NAME," and several curse words reached Lily's ears. Her mouth dropped open and the Slytherin table roared with laughter. People glanced around and continued to eat.

"That's a Howler," Alice explained before turning her attention back to her food. Lily frowned and started picking at her plate; she'd lost her appetite.

Sirius never came back to the Great Hall that morning.

Slughorn flicked his wand and a list of ingredients that the class would need appeared on the board.

"If everyone would please turn to page 26 in their textbooks you may begin." Lily began copying down the ingredients as Severus turned to the page and began to read.

"This isn't right," He muttered to Lily. She glanced up and frowned.

"What isn't right?"

"These directions, they're not right." Lily looked at Severus quizzically.

"What's wrong with them?"

"Mum makes this potion all the time and I help her with it," He explained. "I know for a fact that you're supposed to use red moss, not green. It will make the color and texture slightly different, which isn't bad if you're just experimenting, but it won't be as appealing to people if you want them to drink it." He paused and read more before snorting in disgust.

"What now?" Lily asked curiously.

"I can't believe that they left out the rat toenails! That's the part that gets rid of coloring. If you don't use them then the person who drinks it could turn green." Lily wrinkled her nose.

"Ewwwww! Really?" Severus nodded quickly jotting down footnotes and crossing out things in his textbook.

"Alright, Lily, we're going to make this potion the right way. It will be the best potion in the room." He quickly made his own list of ingredients. "Here, find this stuff while I get the cauldron ready." Lily jumped up and walked to the supply cabinet. She wondered if they would get scolded for not following the directions exactly, but she really wanted her first potion to be good and Severus seemed to know what he was doing.

Remus walked up beside her and started going down his list making sure that he got everything. Lily noticed that he was starting to get dark circles under his eyes. He raised an eyebrow curiously at Lily when she grabbed rat toenails. She shrugged at him and walked back to her seat.

Two tables away, James and Sirius were pouring over their textbook. Neither of them had the slightest idea where to start.

"I guess we just throw everything in and hope for the best," Sirius suggested half-heartedly. This seemed like a good idea to James and the two boys started tossing in their ingredients.

"Oy, look over at Evans," James said suddenly. Sirius glanced over at the redhead and frowned when he saw who her partner was.

"What's a Gryffindor doing with a Slytherin?" James shrugged and the two watched Snape and Evans hard at work on their potion. Sirius snorted.

"They're just as bad as us," He said. "They're not even using the right ingredients." Neither of the boys was paying the slightest bit of attention to their own potion that was dangerously starting to bubble over the top. James caught the scent of smoke and looked over just in time to see their potion explode. Everyone shouted and ducked for cover.

A putrid smell filled the air as the students slowly got to their feet. An ugly brown liquid was on the walls and ceiling. Poor James and Sirius were still sitting where they were with dazed expressions on their faces. They were covered from head to toe in the smelly stuff.

"Um...I'm not an expert,"said James, trying to clean his glasses. "But I don't think that was supposed to happen." He and Sirius got a good look at each other and started laughing. Soon the whole classroom was roaring in laughter, including Professor Slughorn. With tears in his eyes, the Professor waved his wand and the liquid vanished.

"I'll give you boys half credit for the effort," He said to James and Sirius. "Does that sound fair to you?" The boys nodded.

"Next time please follow the directions step-by-step." James and Sirius slumped in their seats looking sour while the rest of the class went back to work.

"Do you have those quills chopped yet, Lily?" Severus asked as he slowly stirred the potion clockwise.

"Yes, do you want them now?" Lily asked holding up the quills. He nodded and she carefully dropped them in. The potion turned from an ugly brown to a beautiful shade of orange.

"Very lovely," Slughorn praised walking by. Lily and Severus grinned at each other and began to work on their last ingredient, the red moss.

"Pull at them like this," Snap instructed. Lily watched attentively as he carefully pulled at the top part. She copied him and he nodded in approval. They had just finished placing the moss in the potion and stirred it when Slughorn called time. He went to each table, carefully studying the potions and jotting down things on his clipboard. Sometimes he would give the students advice on how to make the potion better, but he didn't give any appraisal until he came to Remus and Peter's table.

"Very good boys!" He said after putting a sample into a glass. "But next time, Mr. Lupin, would you let Mr. Pettigrew do some of the work?" Several Slytherins snickered as Peter's face turned red in embarrassment. Slughorn made a few notes and moved to Lily and Severus' table. He took a sample of their potion and beamed.

"Amazing! I haven't seen anything like this in all my years of teaching! Very good you two; great partnership! 20 points to Slytherin and Gryffindor!" His praise shocked everyone in the room. Lily and Severus looked at each other in wonderment while everyone else around them started whispering.

Remus just stared at the two with interest; he wondered how they knew to use those different ingredients. James and Sirius had their mouths hanging wide open; they had thought for sure that they would have messed up their potion, but it was perfect. It just didn't make sense.

Slughorn dismissed the class and everyone filed out. Several Gryffindors and Slytherins glared at Lily and Severus as they walked by.

"I think we might have accidently made enemies," She whispered to Severus. He shrugged.

"They're just jealous. They'll get over it." Lily nodded in agreement, but as more people continued to give them glares she wondered if he was right.

"Oy, Evans!" James called, catching up to Lily at the castle grounds as she headed for Herbology. Lily turned and frowned at him.

"Yes, Potter?" Sirius caught up to Lily and James, and the two boys crossed their arms and glowered at her.

"How did you make that potion so perfect?" James demanded. "You weren't even looking at the directions."

"And why were you with a Slytherin?" Sirius asked. Lily glared at them and put her hands on her hips.

"And you two say that I'm nosey! For your information, Severus Snape is my friend and his Mum makes that potion all the time, so Sev knew how to make it! Now, are there any other personal questions you'd like to ask me, because I'd like to get to Herbology before we're late." Her angry outburst startled the boys and left them speechless; she turned on her heels and walked away, James and Sirius reluctantly following after her.

"I'm glad we're finally able to talk in peace," Lily said happily as she leaned against a tall shade tree and breathed in the wonderful scent of Fall. Severus nodded in agreement. They were sitting on the castle grounds near the lake that afternoon; their homework littering the ground around them as they chatted.

"So, is the situation with Malfoy any better?" Lily asked. Severus glared down at his shoes and shook his head.

"It's worse," He admitted. "Malfoy is a stuck up prat." Lily's gaze landed on James and Sirius a few yards away.

"I know what you mean."

"He thinks he's all high and mighty because he knows more spells than we do and he has a Prefect badge," Severus ranted. "But he's just a bloody Git who deserves to be hexed into next year."

"Didn't you say that you and Darcy are making a plan to get him back?" Severus' eyes lit up and an evil grin spread across his face.

"Oh, yes, we have a plan alright; a bloody good one at that. Lucius Malfoy and his friends won't know what hit them. We're still working on the details though; I'm not sure how long it will take before we can put the plan into action. Lily glanced up at the setting sun.

"I want to hear all the details about it when you're done." Severus nodded and casted a sideways glance at the redhead.

"I—er, couldn't help noticing that you looked a little sad this morning at Great Hall, everything alright?" Lily's eyes looked down cast as she slowly pulled out her letter from Petunia.

"Tuney wrote back to me." Severus frowned at her.

"You sent her a letter? Why?" Lily glared at him and sat up so they were eye level.

"Because she's my sister, I thought that I could at least send her a polite letter without her blowing up at me!" Severus raised his eyebrows and took the letter from her.

"What did you write her?" Lily's eyes filled with tears.

"I just told her that I was sorry for snooping around in her room, and I asked her to forgive me, that's all! I didn't mean to embarrass her; how should I know that her friend was spending the night? Serenity landed on her head! I didn't tell her to do that! Tuney thinks I did it on purpose and now she really hates me!" Severus skimmed the letter and let out a low whistle; then he started laughing.

"I would love to have seen that!" Lily scowled at him and jumped up, stuffing her homework back into her bag. Severus realized what she was doing and grabbed her arm.

"Wait, Lil! I'm sorry for laughing; I know that it must not seem funny to you." Lily crossed her arms and continued to scowl.

"I can never have a decent conversation about my sister with you, can I?" Severus blushed and looked down at his feet.

"Sorry." Lily stared at his guilty look and couldn't help but smile.

"It does sound funny." Severus looked up at her and they both started laughing.

"How'd you suppose Evans and Snape know each other?" James asked watching the couple as they walked across the grounds. It was getting dark, and the students were slowly making their way back inside.

"They live in the same village," Remus explained walking beside James and Sirius; he was rubbing his temple and glancing up at the nearly full moon.

"How'd you know that?" Sirius asked curiously.

"I actually talk to them," Remus retorted, walking ahead of the other boys and hurrying towards the door. "Unlike you two who just talk about them behind their backs." This comment shut the other two boys up and they silently followed Remus back to the Common Room.

***Author's Note***

Special thanks to everyone whose reading this so far! I'm sorry if it seems a bit dull; hopefully it will pick back up soon. I'm currently revising chapter 5 and it should be posted sometime next week. I've started a new semester in school now, and I'm not sure what my work load is going to be like yet. I may not have as much time to work on this as I did before, but I'll update when I can. If you see any mistakes or have any good prank suggestions that James and Sirius can do, let me know. And I'm planning on making more scenes in Snape's POV.

*Quick Sneak Peek:

For the Marauder fans out there, don't worry; they will start hanging out in chapter 7 (let's just say there is a big prank involved.)

The big plan that Snape mentions will not happen until their 3rd year (Malfoy's last year at Hogwarts) and everything goes horribly wrong. That's all I'm going to say about it. If you want to know more then keep reading. :)

With all of this said, thanks for reading chapter 4. Knox!

~Anna~