Disclaimer: Any lines or characters or events that you recognize (or even if you fail to recognize them) do not, in fact, belong to me. They belong to a genius named J. K. Rowling.

It was the end of May, and teachers had been loading us with homework for the past month or so. Why? OWL's. They were terrible. The only reason we got through it was because of Remus's incredible skills at schoolwork. It always amazed me how Peter (recently nicknamed 'Wormtail') was able to actually pass tests. But, the story that I want to tell you now didn't have to do with tests and school. It had to do with Lily.

She still fought with Georgia nearly every day. The only difference was, it stopped being about how Lily should ditch Snape because he was evil, and it became about how Snape was just evil. Georgia was taking a different tactic. She knew that Lily wasn't going to stop being friends with him. She just wanted her to admit that being friends with him was a bad idea, even if she was going to continue doing it. Well, that tactic didn't last for long.

It was right after the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam, the second-to-last exam. I thought it was easy. Then again, I was pretty sure I had failed Potions, so it kind of balanced out. Even with the few months working with Severus during fourth year, I was still no good at Potions.

"Did you like question ten, Moony?" Sirius asked Moony as soon as we left the exam hall. I grinned. I was sure I got that one.

"Loved it," Remus replied, winking at me, "Give five signs that identify the werewolf. Excellent question."

"D'you think you managed to get all the signs?" asked James, sarcastically. Remus pretended to think.

"Think I did. One: He's sitting on my chair. Two: He's wearing my clothes. Three: His name's Remus Lupin." I started laughing. The five of us had become closer and closer friends. Remus was more open than he had been before we became animagi. He joked more. He laughed more. He wasn't so touchy about being a werewolf all of the time. He had accepted what he was, and he had accepted that we had embraced it.

But Peter actually seemed nervous.

"I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes, and the tufted tail," he said, "But I couldn't think what else-"

"How thick are you, Wormtail?" said James, rolling his eyes, "You run around with a werewolf once a month-" I agreed. Wormtail could be so stupid, sometimes. It didn't make any sense to me. It wasn't as if he always goofed off in class like James and Sirius did. In fact, he seemed to be paying attention. But no matter what, he could never manage to remember what he was taught. I suppose that the same went for life experiences.

"Keep your voice down," Remus reminded them.

"Why?" I whispered in his ear, "Almost everyone knows." He smiled.

"Not the Slytherins," he whispered back, "And Snape's right behind us."

"Well, I thought that paper was a piece of cake," Sirius announced, ignoring our whispered conversation, "I'll be surprised if I don't get an outstanding on it at least."

"Me too," James agreed. He reached his hand into his pocket and took out a golden snitch.

"Where'd you get that?" I asked.

"Nicked it." I rolled my eyes. I knew James. He'd give it back at the end of the day. Well, at least in time for the next Quidditch match.

We kept walking until we came to one of our hang-out spots. The beech tree. When it was nice out, and I wanted to hang out with the Marauders, we'd sit there. If I wanted to talk to just Remus, we'd sit on our bench. If I wanted to be alone, which was almost never now, I'd go to the woods. I hadn't been back there in a long time. I hadn't told Remus about the woods. It was a place that was all mine. I could walk in there for hours, and not see another living soul.

I leaned against the tree, next to Remus. He pulled out a book.

"What is that?" I asked him, resting my head on his shoulder. He leaned his head on mine slightly.

"Transfiguration."

"Studying?"

"Yup."

"You're crazy. You must have that thing memorized by now."

"Not really. Only about fifty pages." I glanced up at him, saw he was smiling, and smiled back.

"You weren't sure if I was kidding, were you?" he asked, playfully.

"I can never tell," I murmured into his shoulder.

James was lying on his back, with Pete sitting up next to hiom, watching James play with the snitch. He congratulated particularly good catches, and hung on James's every word. Peter was like a shadow to us. I would never have told him, but it never felt as if he was really part of the Marauders. He just hung out with us because we were cool, strong, and popular.

Sirius sat next to Remus, his back against the tree, looking around at the people outside.

"Looking for Georgia?" I teased him. He grinned. I knew I was right. Georgia and Sirius were going out, but not officially. We all knew that if Sirius had an official girlfriend, it would be the end of the world.

"Put that away, will you?" Sirius finally said to James, nodding at the snitch. Remmy and I exchanged glances. We knew he just wanted to change the subject. While Sirius was glad to be going out with Georgia, he wasn't the type of person who enjoyed talking about his relationships. He figured that he should change the subject quickly - before it got there.

"Before Wormtail wets himself with excitement," I added quietly. Pete turned pink.

"If it bothers you," James replied, shoving the snitch back in his pocket.

"I'm bored," Sirius yawned, "Wish it was full moon."

"You might," Remus muttered, "We've still got Transfiguration, if you're bored, you could test me. Here." He held out the book to Sirius. Sirius snorted.

"I don't need to look at that rubbish. I know it all." Remus raised his eyebrows, put didn't press the issue. If James had said it, I would've believed him. But this was Sirius. Transfiguration wasn't his forte. Of course, he was fair. If he weren't, there wasn't a chance that he could've become an animagus.

"This'll liven you up, Padfoot," James said in an almost-whisper. "Look who it is." Sirius turned to look where James was looking.

"Excellent," he whispered, "Snivellus."

The mood between us and Snape had worsened over the past year. The hatred grew. It seemed like James and Sirius made it their job to make Snape's life a living hell. I never stopped them. Nobody got hurt, so I stayed silent. Lily hated it. She didn't usually blame the rest of us for just standing by, though. She was just constantly furious with James and Sirius. She stood up for Snape whenever she could. I respected that. I knew from my experiences working with him in Potions that he could be a nice guy. But he started the fights with James and Sirius as much as they started the fights with him.

"All right, Snivellus?" said James loudly. He was striding towards Snape with Sirius next to him. Pete sat, expecting a fight. Remmy and I sat against the tree.

"If you don't like it," I asked him, "Why don't you do anything?"

"Don't you get it?" he replied, "They're the first friends I had. I want to keep their respect. I'm not helping. That's all I can do. I can't control them." Funny. He had just said what I'd been trying to explain to myself for the past few months.

As soon as James spoke, Snape whipped around and pulled out his wand. He hadn't even gotten it out when James shouted : "Expelliarmus!"

"Ugh, I can't watch," I muttered. I glanced at Remus's book but quickly looked away. "That's the most boring book I've ever seen. How do you read it?" He shrugged.

"It's easier if you think when you read it," he replied, "It's something James and Sirius never do."

Snape's wand flew into the air and fell behind him. Sirius laughed.

"Impedimenta!" he said. Snape was knocked off his feet. Students began to gather around the battle. I didn't. I hated to see them fight as much as Remus did. Severus had stopped by to visit a couple times during the summer. He mostly ignored Rose and me, so we'd hang out while Lily and Severus hung out. I understood what Lily meant when she said that he wasn't a bad person.

"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" James taunted him.

"I was watching him," Sirius sniggered, "His nose was touching the parchment. There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word." A few people laughed. I didn't.

"He's so immature," Remus muttered as he turned a page of his book. It was then that I realized that Remus wasn't ignoring them. He was trying to. Trying and failing.

"You wait," Snape panted at James, "You wait." I knew why Snape was panting. James had tried out his latest hex on him. He'd found it in an old book in the library. He caused the victim to be out of breath, almost a magical way to hit someone in the solar plexus.

"Wait for what?" Sirius replied coolly, "What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"

"Immature," Remus muttered again.

Snape started swearing. He did that often. Whenever he didn't know what to say, whenever Sirius and James started making nasty comments, he'd just stand there and swear.

"Wash out you mouth," James snapped, "Scourgify."

"Ugh," I muttered, hearing Snape choke on the bubbles. I was about to get up. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I couldn't just sit there watching. Then, someone did it for me. She marched over to where the fight was happening. She pushed her way through the crowd.

"Leave him ALONE!" Lily yelled. I could just see her in my mind's eye. Her green eyes flashed with fury, her red hair flying behind her. When she was mad, boy was she mad. Of course, her temper was nothing compared to Rose's. I tried not to think about what would've happened had Rose been in Lily's shoes.

"All right, Evans?" James asked, trying to be mature. It was a losing battle.

"Leave him alone," Lily snapped, "What's he done to you?" It was rhetorical. Even I could see that, and I hated rhetorical questions.

"Well," said James. Obviously, he didn't catch the drift. "It's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean." More laughter. James had given up on trying to be mature. I didn't blame him. After all, having Lily yell at you wasn't exactly a calming experience.

"You think you're funny," Lily said, her voice becoming quieter as she grew more and more angry. I could just see her shaking a finger at him. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone."

"I will if you go out with me, Evans," James said quickly. "Go on, go out with me, and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again." I groaned. Now's not the time, James, I thought to myself.

"I wouldn't go out with you," she snarled, "If it was a choice between you and the giant squid."

"Bad luck, Prongs," Sirius sighed, "Oy!" Snape had tried to reach for his wand again. There was a gap in the crowd, and I could see what was going on. Snape had hit James. There was a gash on his face. In an instant, Snape was hanging upside-down in the air.

There was more cheering and laughing.

"Let him down," Lily warned, but I think I heard a hint of a smile in her voice.

"Certainly," James said, pretending to bow. Snape landed in a heap on the ground. He reached for his wand, and Sirius immediately hexed him. Remus still sat there, next to me, trying to ignore the fight. Lily has it under control, I told myself, No need to get involved. Peter was no longer sitting with us. He was standing in the circle of people surrounding the fight.

"Leave him alone!" Lily shouted again. She held out her own wand, and it was pointed right at James.

"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," James said.

"Take the curse off him, then!" James sighed and let him go.

"There you go," James said as Snape struggled to his feet, "You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus-"

"I don't need help from filthy little mudbloods like her!" Even Remus looked up, stunned, at that. Snape had called muggleborns that all the time, but never Lily. My eyes widened. Remus slammed his book closed and jumped to his feet. I joined him, but we didn't move any closer to the fight.

"Fine," she said, coolly, "I won't bother in future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus." Man, she knew how to hit below the belt. I'd been a recipient of one to many of those hits.

"Apologize to Evans!" James roared.

"I don't want YOU to make him apologize," Lily shouted, "You're just as bad as he is."

"What?" James yelped, "I'd NEVER call you a you-know-what!" I couldn't believe what was happening. This was exactly what Lily had sworn would never happen. She swore that she and Severus would be friends forever, no matter what James did.

"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid snitch, walking down the corriders and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can - I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me sick."

She turned and stalked off.

"Evans! Hey Evans!" James shouted.

She didn't look back. Remus and I ran after her.

A/N: A nice long chapter for you. Remember to say thank you and review!