Plot: The infamous Marauders weren't alone in their love for pranking. In fact, they often had their butts kicked by a bunch of girls. Now, this is it. Seventh year. Four girls, four boys. Two opposing pranking teams. One hell of a battle to be won.

Disclaimer: Sad as it may be, I am not J.K. Rowling in disguise, and therefore I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters or themes involved. (I do, however, own Jamie, Hannah and Regan and most elements of this specific plot—so I'd appreciate it if no poaching occurred. Thanks.)

WARNING (please read): This is the unedited version, meaning I wrote it a few years ago when my skill level sucked and I had no idea how to properly structure a story. So if you'll please ignore the terrible grammar, dodgy sentence structure, OOC-ness, plot holes, canonical inconsistencies and general immaturity of this whole chapter while I plough my way through all this editing work, that would be greatly appreciated. :) I'm in the process of fixing up all the chapters right now, but you'll have to be patient, because (as you can probably tell just by reading a couple of sentences below) fixing this stuff up takes a lot of time and effort.
Note: For this chapter in particular, a full rewrite is scheduled. I hate to change things around so much, but I felt like the Marauders and the Rogues needed a more solid, believable history... So I'm working on that now. Stay tuned for some epicness. ;)


Chapter 4 - A Blast from the Past

"First years over here!"

At the beginning of any normal year at Hogwarts, the booming voice of the school's cheerful gamekeeper would symbolize a whole lot of good things for Lily; a new year, new friendships, more time to impress the teachers with her academic skills and most importantly, many more chances to hijack the Marauders. But this time round, Lily could not help but dread the treacherous ten months that lay ahead of her. All that filled her mind were thoughts of excessive homework, career-making-or-breaking NEWTs and of course, the prospect of working alongside her worst enemy.

Her mind was bombarded with curiosity as she considered another aspect of her final year at Hogwarts: the year-long finale of the great practical joke war between the Marauders and the Rogues. Things could definitely get messy. But Lily was prepared for a fight, and that was exactly what she was going to give.

Lily walked over to the edge of the lake, aware that her Head's Duties meant she would have to travel by boat to the castle, accompanying the first years and helping Hagrid to keep them under control. James, she was surprised to find, was already standing by the water, ushering tiny first years into the wooden boats that were floating at the edge of the dock. She bit her lip in confusion; James definitely wasn't being his normal self today. Although he had played a part in their malicious practical jokes, this had been expected from all four of the Marauders - and besides, James had seemed quite willing to bring things to a truce. In sixth year or any time before, something like this would have been completely unheard of. And while the previous year, James had spent the majority of his time pestering Lily and trying to get a 'yes' out of while he continued to ask her out, so far, he had not approached her at all for any business other than the Marauder-Rogue war.

"Lily," Hagrid said jovially, and before she knew it, Lily was being squashed into a hug by what seemed like an overweight bear. "Yeh're 'ead girl I guess?"

Lily smiled at the familiar face in front of her. "Yep," she replied.

"I s'pose yeh're not too 'appy about Potter over there, eh?"

No! Could Dumbledore have picked a more horrible, pig-headed idiot for Head Boy? "I'll survive," Lily managed to say, despite the rude remarks she had quite reluctantly refrained from letting slip.

"That's the spirit!" Hagrid said rather loudly, patting her on the back with a hand the size of a dinner plate. Lily tried to smile despite the pain that was shooting up her spine. "Now, we'd better ge' movin' on these first years,"

Lily walked out onto the dock, rubbing her back, and found a clutter of first years chatting excitedly among themselves.

"I'm gonna be in Gryffindor," one boy said proudly.

"Nuh-uh! I bet you'll be in Hufflepuff," another shot malevolently at him.

"Hey!" a small girl frowned and put both hands on her hips. "My parents were both in Hufflepuff,"

Lily grinned at the scene in front of her, remembering with fondness her first day at Hogwarts. Of course, her memories of this day were not only filled with warmth and familiarity, but also with a huge amount of hatred - for the first day at Hogwarts had also been the day when the Marauders and the Rogues had turned against each other for good.

It was a familiar scene, beginning on the train as most of the other beginning-of-year events that she remembered tended to. Lily sat alone in a compartment, kneeling on the seat as she stared out the window at her mother and father on the platform. It had all been so new to her, and she didn't understand a thing. Her hands were pressed to the glass as she yelled to her parents.

"Don't make me go!" she pleaded desperately.

"It'll be fun," she had barely heard her father reply. "Do you know any other kids who get to go to a school to learn how to use magic?"

Lily had been silent for a moment. "No," she said, and slumped back down onto the seat. She had still been quite shocked at the prospect of going to a faraway school to be taught such things, but the idea was beginning to excite her.

She had gazed back longingly at her parents as the train pulled out. They smiled proudly and waved at her as they disappeared from her view. It was at that very moment that the door had slid open, startling Lily and causing her to jump out of her seat. A very small girl with pretty blue eyes and a nervous smile on her round face stepped in, looking utterly frightened.

"Um," she had said in a soft voice. "Is there any room in here?"

"Yeah," Lily said, smiling. "There's plenty,"

"Thanks,"

"My name's Lily, by the way,"

"I'm Jamie,"

The pair had sat awkwardly for a little while, but after Lily got a conversation going, they had spoken for the first half-hour of the train ride. Jamie was a half-blood witch, she had found out - her mother was a Muggle, while her father was a pure blood wizard. Lily remembered finding Jamie's stories much more interesting than her own, for this girl had a background like no other - she had traveled all over the world with her parents, visiting magical communities in places Lily had only dreamed of. But this was only the beginning of Lily's mesmerizing day.

About forty-five minutes into the trip, the soon-to-be familiar voice of the trolley lady had rung out through the train, startling Lily a little.

"Do you want to go and get something?" Jamie had asked somewhat timidly. Lily, of course, had only a vague idea what she was talking about.

"Sure, I guess," she had shrugged, and the pair had wandered awkwardly out into the corridor to find the woman pushing a trolley laden with sweets. Lily's eyes had lit up at the sight of it all, but it was with great disappointment that she said to her newfound friend, "Sorry, I can't. I haven't got much money with me, and I probably shouldn't spend it now,"

At that moment, another voice popped into the conversation. "I'll pay if you like," Lily had looked up, confused, only to see a bouncy blonde girl smiling at her through wide sapphire eyes. Next to her was a girl with darker hair and freckles covering her mischievous face.

"Are... are you sure?" Lily had inquired.

"Absolutely," the girl had said jubilantly. "I'm Hannah, by the way,"

Before Lily could reply, the other girl cut in sarcastically.

"Hannah, you know your mom told you not to talk to strangers,"

"Well if I'd ever decided to obey that rule, how would I have met you, Regan?"

"Okay, okay,"

Five minutes later, the four girls had gathered in Lily and Jamie's compartment, chattering excitedly with each other and giggling as they enjoyed piles of licorice wands, pumpkin pasties, chocolate frogs and every-flavoured beans. They talked on and on about many things, including their expectations of the school.

"I want to be in Gryffindor," Hannah had said happily, holding a hand to her heart in mock-pride.

"I'll be fine as long as they don't throw me in that dump Slytherin," said Regan quite darkly.

Suddenly, the compartment door had slid open, revealing a tall boy with glasses and messy hair of jet black. Lily had stared at the new arrival, wondering why on earth he was entering a compartment full of girls. He appeared to be a bit nervous, and somehow, a little bemused as he stood there.

"Um," he started, and cleared his throat. "I hope you don't mind me sitting in here for a while. That old hag of a teacher down there just kicked me out of my compartment and told me to come here,"

Lily had frozen. She didn't have anything against the boy - at the time - but all the same, she wasn't sure she was entirely comfortable with the idea of him staying in their compartment. But before Lily had had a chance to react, Hannah had replied enthusiastically without another thought, it seemed. "Sure!" she said.

"Thanks," the boy had replied. Lily had hoped he would take a seat on the other side next to Hannah, but unfortunately, moments before, Jamie had sat down in the empty seat. Regan, who was standing while she fiddled with something in her bag on the overhead shelf, had vacated the spot next to Lily, leaving it free for the boy to sit down. Much to Lily's horror, he took the bait, and sat down only inches from her. Lily heard a few quiet snickers from the others, but a dark look from her made them fall silent before returning to their own conversation. Unfortunately, this left Lily to keep the boy entertained.

"I'm James, by the way," he had said to her.

"Lily," she gave him a small smile.

"That's a pretty name,"

"Um... thanks," Lily had been surprised at how smoothly it had gone so far.

"So long have you known these three?" James inquired, indicating Jamie and the others.

"Oh, not long," Lily had shaken her head. "I only met them about an hour ago,"

"I see,"

"What about you? I mean, have you met any new friends yet?" She had felt stupid at the time for asking such a question. Of course he had friends - if he was the rebellious person he had claimed to be (having been kicked out of his compartment and all) then he certainly wouldn't be a loner.

"Not yet," James said, and Lily was shell-shocked until he added: "Well, I've mostly been sticking with a few of my old pals so far,"

"Oh, okay,"

There had been complete silence while Lily had tried to figure out what to say next and James had simply been sitting there, staring at her with his knowing hazel eyes.

"I'd better go check on my friends," James suddenly said. "In case they've gotten into any trouble. See you at school, I guess,"

Lily smiled warmly. "See you," she replied.

"Try and get into Gryffindor, will you?"

"Um... I'll try,"

James had spared her a final wave before walking out the door. Lily returned it with a smile, and then turned around, only to realize that Hannah, Jamie and Regan had fallen silent.

"Well?" Regan had urged. "Would you care to explain?"

"What do you mean?" Lily raised her eyebrows.

"Is this James guy your new boyfriend or what?"

"Hey!" Lily had said defensively. "Of course not! He's just nice, that's all!"

"If you say so..." Regan concluded, triggering a few quiet giggles from the other two.

Lily folded her arms and turned away from them all, frustrated with their stubbornness. It was at that moment that Lily had heard it - a faint whisper drifting through the train wall. Lily froze and strained her ears in attempt to hear it more clearly.

"What is it?" Hannah had asked.

"Shh!" Lily put a finger to her lips. "Can you hear that?" She had pressed her ear up to the wall, and all at once, the voices had become loud and clear.

"How good was that?" she recognized the voice of James. Lily was confused at this, and continued to listen in for more details.

"That was awesome, Prongs!" a slightly deeper voice had remarked enthusiastically. "You'll have her going out with you by tomorrow, I'll bet!"

She had gasped when she realized that the her they were talking about was, in fact, Lily herself. What was going on? Had James' kindness simply been an act to get her to warm up to him? It was so appauling that Lily had wanted to throw up.

"Who wants to be dared next?" James had said excitedly. "Moony, I think it's about time you had your turn,"

"No way!" said a rough male voice.

"Fine," James said. "You have a go, Padfoot,"

What intrigued Lily even more than the strange names they were using was the fact that they seemed to be playing some kind of game. With Padfoot's next words, understanding dawned upon her all at once.

"Alright," he had said quite willingly. "Who should I go for?"

"I'd suggest the blonde one," James replied. "She's the one who let me in real easily,"

Hannah, who by now was leaning up against the wall as well and was listening intently to the boys' conversation, had expelled an enormous gasp at this. Lily had watched her expression turn to one of horror as she continued to listen.

"Ooh, blonde? That one's gotta be a good catch,"

Lily had pulled her head away from the wall in utter annoyance at his comment and turned to her new friends with a frustrated scowl on her face. "That's it," she had said. "We're going over there,"

And so the four of them had marched over to the compartment to the right of theirs, and, not even bothering to knock on the door, burst in angrily. Lily had noted the expressions of shock on what she now realized were, in fact, four boys' faces as they entered, fuming.

"Look," Lily had said angrily. "I don't know what kind of sick game you're playing, but please, just keep us out of it!"

"What?" James had said, his eyes wide. "I don't know what you're talking abo-"

"Save it, buster!" Hannah had said, stepping forward and glaring at him. Then she turned to the other three of them. "And whichever one of you called me a 'good catch' is going to have THIS to answer to," she lifted a tiny fist into the air as she stared at each of the boys. This gesture was only met with a loud laugh from a tall boy with shaggy hair. "I take it it was you?" Hannah said darkly, turning to him. The boy had smirked.

"So what if it was, huh?" he had said defiantly. "What's your little fist going to do, give me a bruise the size of a pinhead?"

Hannah had stepped back, evidently embarrassed by his comment.

"Anyway, we didn't mean anything by it," James had said rather calmly. "So you can all go back to whatever it was you were doing,"

"You didn't mean anything by it?" Lily had said, enraged. "You think that you can play some kind of... flirtatious dare game on us and just walk away?"

"Hey, you don't even know what we were up to," James had defended himself. "So how can you have any idea what we meant by it?"

"The walls are paper thin, for your information," Lily shot back at him.

"Well it's not like you can read our minds or anything," the other boy said.

Within moments, the eight of them were arguing with full force, shouting rude comments as the groups tried to outdo one another. The fight went on and on, until finally, they had all turned their backs on each other. By this point, Lily was raging, and tried hard to calm herself down.

"Would you four care to leave?" The shaggy-haired boy had darkly said. "You're in our compartment, you know,"

"We're aware of that, thank you," Regan had replied, matching his tone. "And don't worry, we're on our way,"

And it was that incident alone that had triggered their ongoing feud, all of the spite and hatred that had hung between them for so many years, and the endless practical joke war that seemed to be their way of seeking revenge on one another. Lily wondered if things would have turned out differently, had they not gotten involved in that argument. Perhaps they may have, but Lily strongly doubted it. The truth was, they would have found something to disagree on, no matter how hard they tried to play nice. The groups just didn't click - that was a solid fact.

What if they had made an attempt at reconciliation? Lily pondered the idea. This might have changed things, if they had given it a shot. But they never really got a chance to try and cooperate, for only hours after the train ride, the girls had officially declared themselves the Rogues, taken a blood oath, and dedicated themselves to hating the Marauders.

Lily sighed as she dragged herself back to reality and began to direct the first years into the wooden boats. Still, she managed to contemplate the concept of James' changed personality. It simply wasn't possible for him to be mature, she tried to tell herself. But no matter how long she thought about it, her mind still kept on coming back around to the same conclusion - people change, she thought. And right now, it seems as though James has changed an awful lot.


As I said, the whole explanation part isn't the greatest, but I plan to build on it throughout the story. I hope you all enjoyed it! Reviews are very much appreciated :)