Sorry I couldn't get this up yesterday. Lacrosse has started and I have to start working on my time management skills.

This isn't as long as I would have liked it to be, but…I hope you enjoy it!

Part I: Hidebound

The events surrounding the escape into Hogsmeade weren't discussed except when the four seventh years were in private. They didn't want any teacher to hear and give them a reason to take away the Marauder's Map or James's cloak. But, because the events weren't talked about, didn't mean they didn't use the map and cloak.

In fact, now that Lily and Michelle knew about them, James and Sirius were constantly using the two items around them. James showed Lily all the secret passageways and took her outside at night to look at the stars under the invisibility cloak. There were three that James said Filch knew about and guarded safely so the Marauders wouldn't use it. "He wants to catch us with the map so bad," James told her after he had shown her the final passageway. The first two weeks of April were perfect and Lily hoped it could continue.

"So, what are your plans now?"

Lily looked up. She had been doing some studying for the NEWTS on her bed. Michelle was standing over her, a sincere expression on her face, while Ivy looked over from her own bed. Cecily was also in the room, sitting on her bed trying to ignore the other girls.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, closing her books. She had a feeling that she wouldn't be studying anymore that night.

"What are your plans? You know, the ones we all thought were morbid before," Michelle said, sitting where Lily's papers had once been. "They have to be different. I mean, you have James now."

Ivy's head had lifted up and she smiled. "Yeah, Lily," she agreed. "Last we heard you weren't getting married until you were, like, thirty. Somehow I doubt James will go for that."

Lily glanced over to Cecily quickly. She was looking at Lily with interest in her eyes, but it was apparent she was trying not to care. She finally looked down at her work and Lily turned back to her friends. Michelle and Ivy were both sitting on her bed now, looking up at her in curiosity.

"Why the sudden interest in my plans?" she asked, placing her book on the ground.

Michelle shrugged. "I was just thinking about after Hogwarts and everything, and Sirius, when I remembered your plans and wondered if they had changed."

Ivy turned to Michelle. "Wait, you were thinking about Sirius as…."

A blush spread across Michelle's cheeks and Lily smiled at her friend's response. "I mean, we've only been together for two and a half months but I feel like we've been together forever," Michelle said the two girls quietly. "And last night he told me he loved me."

There was a loud shriek and Ivy fell over, landing on the floor with a loud thump. Lily rolled her eyes, but looked to Michelle with a broad grin. "Congratulations," she said, giving Michelle a hug. "Everyone can see you guys are perfect together."

Michelle nodded. "But, I don't know if he's the marrying type," she started slowly as Ivy stood up. The brown-haired girl rushed to the flower vase and pulled out a black orchid, placing it in Michelle's hair when she returned. "I mean, it doesn't matter, but…"

Lily had to admit Sirius was a rebel, but now the boy was head-over-heels for her best friend. She didn't know what Sirius had in mind, so she merely nodded, not quite agreeing yet not quite disagreeing with her friend. But, she now understood where the question came from. Michelle was wondering if it was natural to be thinking about her future with Sirius.

"You know what, my plans have changed," Lily told her friends. "I've been thinking about it and I don't think there's anyone else I'd rather spend the rest of my life with than James. I can just picture it."

"What do you picture?" Michelle asked quietly.

Lily felt her cheeks heat up. She hadn't told anyone that she had been thinking about this before. She hadn't even told James. "Well, I would marry James and we would have kids – well, boys, I don't want girls that would end up like Petunia and I – and they would look just like him. He's great with kids, you know."

Michelle nodded and Ivy watched in awe. "Have you thought about any names you like?" Ivy asked dreamily.

A laugh escaped Lily's lips. "We haven't even graduated from Hogwarts yet, Ives!" she exclaimed quietly. She looked down and shrugged, not wanting to lie to her friends. "But, I mean, who hasn't thought of names they liked," she added quickly.

The two girls looked at her wide eyed. "What are they?" Michelle asked eagerly.

"Oh, I don't know," Lily said, looking around the room. "I always wanted to name one of my kids after my father, and then there's Jamison, which means son of James. Oh, and I love the name Harry."

The two girls cooed as if they were talking to a baby. "Harry is adorable," Ivy gushed. "Could you imagine a little James running around with a name like Harry?"

The three girls giggled until there was a slamming noise. Lily looked up to find Cecily had left her books on her bed and slammed the door behind her when she disappeared from the dorm. Michelle glared at the door. "Wonder what her problem is," she sneered, obviously not caring what was bugging Cecily.

Lily looked at the clock and her eyes widened. She stood up and looked at her friends. "I have to go meet James," she told them.

"Oh, right," Ivy said. "It's your anniversary."

"He's probably got some big thing all planned out," Michelle told her with a smile. "Six months, it's impressive seems as in September you hated each other."

Lily had reached the door when she heard this. She turned around to face her friends. "Don't remind me," she said, causing them to giggle.

She walked down the stairs and looked around the common room. At first she didn't see him, but after a few glances she spotted the black haired boy. He was talking with Sirius by the fireplace and by the looks of it they were having a heated conversation. She approached cautiously.

"But, will you be okay by yourself?" James asked him.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Look, I was by myself over Christmas and I'm still alive. You just go have fun and don't worry about me."

"I just feel like I'm never with you guys anymore when…you know."

"I can handle him, I've done it before. Do I have to tell you that I don't want you there? Because I will and you know that."

Lily didn't know what they were talking about but after Sirius finished his sentence he smiled at her and waved. James turned around and his grin spread from ear to ear. "Are you ready?" he asked, walking to her and taking her hand. She nodded.

"Have fun, lovebirds!" Sirius cheered. Then he became serious. "And remember what I said, Prongs. Don't come, it's your night!"

"I won't," James shouted back. "Marauder's honor!"

Lily looked up at him curiously. As they walked farther away from the Gryffindor common room, he noticed she was watching him and looked at her. "What were you talking about?" Lily asked, trying not to sound too nosy. "What can't you go to?"

He shrugged, looking away and continued down the hall. "It was nothing, Lils. I promise. Tonight's about me and you." He draped his arm over her shoulder as they walked down the corridor. The night sky was still light and a beautiful shade of purple. They climbed a staircase and stood in front of a portrait of Barnabas the Barmy teaching trolls to tap-dance. James broke away from her and walked to the front of the bare wall across from the portrait. He walked back and forth three times, a look of concentration on his face. Suddenly a doorway appeared.

James turned to her with a grin. "Welcome to the Room of Requirement, Lily."

He opened the door and led her inside. Lily was awed by the place. There was a small table with candles and the lighting was dim. It was perfect. She turned to James. "How did you do this?" she asked.

"The Room of Requirement gives you whatever you need," he explained. "So really, all I did was think about what I wanted the room to look like and the room did everything else."

"It's perfect, James," she told him, kissing him gently. He grinned and lifted her so her legs were wrapped around his waist, still keeping his lips moving on hers. When they broke apart, she ran her fingers through his messy, black locks. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you more," he challenged with a twinkle in his hazel eyes.

She giggled as he set her down on her chair. He walked to the other side of the table and sat down. For a moment all they did was look at each other with complete admiration. Then they began to talk about relatively random topics, like what Beulah had told James the day before and how they felt about the upcoming NEWTS exams. But it was the conversation that Lily liked more than anything. She liked how she and James could talk about anything.

"So, Sirius told Michelle he loved her last night, I hear," Lily said.

James grinned. "Yeah, you should have heard him when he came back to the dorm. I never thought I'd get any sleep." He looked around and tried to impersonate his best friend. "Prongs, I think she's the one. I'm crazy about her."

"I'm surprised that Michelle didn't do that to me," Lily told him, thinking about what Michelle had told her earlier. "I don't think it really hit her until an hour ago."

He smiled, reaching across the table to grab her hands in his own. Lily used her thumb to rub his knuckles. "Sometimes I wonder when I'm going to wake up," he said quietly. "Sometimes I feel like this can't be happening that my life could take such a drastic turn for the better."

Lily stood and walked to his side, keeping her hands in his. She looked down into his eyes. "It's not a dream," she whispered, sitting down in his lap and kissing his jaw. "Believe me."

He wrapped his arms around her tightly and rocked them back and forth gently. His mouth was on her ear, whispering about how much he loved her and wanted to be with her forever. The words made her heart flutter and tinged her cheeks crimson. He broke away and kissed her gently on the lips.

"As much as I would love to stay here with you, I think we should head out," James muttered, his eyes closed. His face appeared to be disagreeing with everything he was saying. "I don't think McGonagall would be too happy to find out that we were skipping curfew in the Room of Requirement."

Lily nodded and stood, pulling him up with her. "Yeah, we need one rule abiding Head around her," she teased.

He raised his eyebrows as he placed his arm on her shoulders. "Sneaking around the castle's secret passageways is not a characteristic that I think of when I think of Head Girl, Miss Evans," he said with a grin.

Leaning in to his embrace, she giggled softly. The hallways were silent as they walked, the only noise being the soles of their shoes on the stone floors. They reached the Fat Lady without coming across any teacher or student out of bed and arrived just as curfew hit. The common room was deserted, only a few students still sitting on the couches. James turned to Lily and kissed her softly.

"Goodnight, Lily," he whispered, kissing her forehead and smiling down at her.

"Goodnight, James," she replied before rushing up the staircase, turning every few steps to see him watching her.

She opened the door to her dorm and wasn't surprised to hear the soft snores coming from Ivy's bed. The three girls in her dorm were sound asleep in their beds. Lily smiled and grabbed her pajamas. She took her time changing since she wasn't tired and didn't want to go to sleep. She sat on the windowsill and looked out her window.

There was a full moon surrounded by hoards of stars. Lily sighed, thinking about Remus and all he had to go through. He'd been sick that day and exempt from classes, but Lily knew the true reason. She looked back at her friends, aware that they knew nothing of Remus's lycanthropy, his "furry little problem" that plagued him once a month. She wondered if he ever got lonely on the full moon.

She turned back to the window and tried to count the stars. She wanted to make herself tired so she could go to sleep. But, it just caused her to focus, making her more awake than she had been before. A howl in the distance hit her ears and she closed her eyes. Suddenly, she felt a wave of fatigue hit her and her eyes began to sore. She nearly fell asleep on the windowsill, but a loud bark woke her from her near slumber.

Lily opened her eyes and looked down. Coming from the direction of the Whomping Willow was a large black dog. He was running at full speed, much faster than Lily had ever seen a dog run before. As he approached the castle, something began to happen to the dog. Her eyes widened as the dog's fur began to disappear and he stood on two legs. Instead of a dog, it was now a cloaked figure with his hood on his head. Her heart began to beat faster, wondering if the man was a follower of Voldemort. A fierce wind blew and the hood fell from the figure's head.

She gasped as her eyes fell on the well-chiseled face of Sirius Black.

Wow, she's seen Sirius…what a way to find out, huh? And what's he running for?

Also, just for reference, Hidebound means stubborn or narrow-minded. It might give you a hint…speaking of hints, I gave you a hint about Cecily. Her story's going to unfold in the next few chapters.

Tell me what you think!

Review!