Most of Hogwarts's inhabitants were currently in the Great Hall and were currently looking at the Daily Prophet in disgust and fear. Not only had the feared werewolf Fenir Greyback bitten five more children on the last full moon, but He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's followers had began killing anyone they felt like—muggles, half-bloods, muggle-borns, and even purebloods when the mood struck. No one was safe anymore; not even inside the castle walls, the students began to suspect. Hannah McGinn and Patrick Rielly didn't come back this school year; both of Harvey Echeart's parents had died fighting Death Eaters; and Dumbledore was nowhere to be found some days. The war was steadily getting worse, and the four Marauders could no longer ignore it. Remus had his own vendetta against Greyback; Sirius's family were friends with these Death Eaters, and he knew what horrible judge of character they were; James couldn't stand evil of any kind, and he most definitely couldn't stand this war; and Peter was willing to follow James anywhere.
"Sick bastards." James threw the paper onto the table. Photos of suspected Death Eaters leered up at the Great Hall. Remus laughed bitterly.
"You don't even know the half of it, Prongs." He subconsciously rubbed the scar on his neck. "They don't see any of this as right or wrong; to them it's just one big game where winner takes all." Sirius pulled Remus's hand away from his throat.
"You mean Voldemort takes all." A hush fell over the Gryffindor table—everyone looked at Sirius in awe.
"You said the name, mate." Peter was the only Marauder who looked terrified at the name (James and Remus were also not afraid to say it). Sirius shrugged his shoulders.
"So, I can say it all I want. Voldemort, Voldemort, Voldemort." Peter squeaked. "It's just a name, Pete." Sirius felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Exactly, Mr. Black. Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." Professor Dumbledore looked down at the boys with a sad smile. "I wish I didn't have to advocate this in my school, but after you graduate look for the Order of the Phoenix." Dumbledore walked away as the four boys looked at one another.
"The Order of the Phoenix is pretty serious stuff. Other than the Ministry, they're the only ones taking a stand against Voldemort." Peter winced. "I…I'm going to join them." James looked around at his friends uncertainly. "You guys don't have to come with me, but—" Sirius brought up a hand to stop James.
"We're with you no matter what, James." Remus and Peter nodded in agreement. "I have a score to settle with Greyback anyway." A chilling growl sounded; for the first and last time in his life, James was afraid of his werewolf friend. Remus's teeth were bared, and he had a dangerous grip on his fork.
"Greyback is mine." Sirius began to rub soothing circles on the werewolf's back. Remus's animalistic side faded away and was quickly replaced by embarrassment. The boy blushed and turned his amber eyes to his plate. "S-sorry." The Marauders were all too busy imagining the grim, non-so-distant future that they didn't notice Regulus walk over from the Slytherin table.
"You didn't come home." The younger Black brother had on a face of confusion.
"Well you see Reg, I ran away." The older Black was also confused.
"I thought you'd chicken out and come back."
"It seems you underestimate this Gryffindor crest." Regulus flushed and scowled.
"She burned you off the tapestry." Sirius wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"Good. I hated that thing." He stood up and ruffled Regulus's hair with some affection. "I hope you realize what that house stands for before it's too late." The Slytherin's flush darkened.
"Yeah, whatever." Regulus stormed back to the Slytherin table; Sirius watched with a small smile. The smile grew when he felt Remus's hand slid into his own.
"He's a good kid—he just hasn't realized it yet." Peter, who had never seen anything less than hexes occur between the Black brothers, finally understood that nothing could ever be the same again. Their promise to enter the Order of the Phoenix symbolized that.
The second month of seventh year was almost over, and James Potter had not tried asking Lily Evans out once. Normally the girl would love the fact, but she missed the normalcy (or so she said). Truth was, Lily had gotten a crush on the bespectacled boy. Sometime in fifth year attraction had planted its seed, and now she had a full-fledged crush on the marauder. "Hey Po—James!" The hazel-eyed boy looked around in surprise.
"Good morning, Lily!" He smiled, but Lily saw an alien graveness in his eyes.
"So did you hear about the next Hogsmeade weekend?" The redhead really hoped she didn't have to spell the rest of it out.
"Oh! That's this Saturday isn't it?" Lily nodded enthusiastically. James ruffled his hair sheepishly. "Well I think I already know your answer, but since I haven't tried yet this year…will you go out with me, Lily?" The boy had his head hung, ready for rejection.
"Yes." He snapped his head back up in surprise. "I would love to go on a date with you, James Potter." James smiled; the graveness wasn't in his eyes any more, Lily noticed happily.
"Does this mean I can call you my girlfriend?"
"Let's see if you can make it past the date first."
Word of James and Lily's date spread fast (with some help from Sirius, Remus, and Peter). Severus, when he heard, was in an absolute rage. He knew he ruined everything with Lily the day he uttered that awful word, but Potter? Sparks flew from the Slytherin's wand. What made the situation a thousand times worse was the fact that Severus owed Potter—owed him his life to be more specific. The pale boy gripped his dark hair in anger. Potter didn't deserve Lily. "Snape, how would you like to meet a Death Eater?" Severus looked up at his housemate.
"Why, I'd be delighted to."
Lily had to admit that James sure knew how to treat a girl. He took her to the Three Broomsticks, bought her chocolate at Honeydukes, and even held all the doors for her. The green-eyed girl was wondering why in the hell she didn't say yes sooner. "So Lily…" James hesitantly laced their fingers together; she smiled. "Am I allowed to call you my girlfriend yet?"
"Depends Potter, are you going to kiss me yet?" James was most definitely happy to oblige. He tightened his grip on Lily's hand ever so slightly and brought their lips together. What a perfect date, James thought to himself.