Lily

"They tied him to the birch tree!"

"No way who?"

"The new kid— let's go I'll show you!"

Lily ignored the declarations of the crowd gathered by the shore of the Black Lake as she pushed her way through the swarming student body of Hogwarts. If there was one thing her classmates loved it was gossip.

And what was before them certainly was gossip-worthy.

Tied with ropes to the Birch tree was a student she'd never seen before. Lily's lips twitched down when she saw he was fully naked, ropes dangling over his front to cover his modesty, with the word "Bloodtraitor" scrawled across his chest.

"Let's take those ropes down and see Longbottom's Longbottom," Eric Davies shouted, moving towards the student. Lily stopped him, taking her wand out and undoing the ropes with a flick of her wand.

"Shows over," she said, giving Davies a sickly sweet smile. "Unless you want to strip for everybody instead?"

Davies's friends began to laugh behind him and he sneered at her.

"Not for whores like you Evans," he spat, walking off as the crowd began to disperse. Lily turned, looking at the student who was rising. She'd never seen him before but he definitely looked old enough to be in her year at least.

"Here," Lily said, extending her cloak to him. He took it gingerly, sliding it on and she turned to leave him.

"Hey wait!"

She could hear him following her and widened her strides.

"Thanks," he said, quickly catching up to her. "I'm Frank— Frank Longbottom."

Lily ignored him, continuing up the hill towards the castle.

"I'm new," he added. "From the states… Well not really, my mum's English and I grew up here but went to school over there. Just got back a-"

"Do I look like I care?" Lily snapped. He froze and looked at her apprehensively.

"Fine," he muttered. "I'll go."

Lily sighed, biting her lip as she watched him retreat.

"Hey wait," she said, striding after him. "I'm sorry that was shite of me."

"Everybody at this crappy school is," Frank returned. Lily quirked a brow: that was something she could agree on with him. Hogwarts was the school for the elite world of pureblood society, with a few halfbloods and muggleborns slipping between the cracks in each of the houses. Being muggleborn herself, she had been destined to exist on the fringes of Hogwarts' student body. But Marlene hadn't allowed that.

"I'm Lily," she said, extending her hand. "Lily Evans."

He looked at her hand before nodding and shaking it.

"So you're new," she surmised, walking towards the castle with him. "What year are you in?"

"I'm a sixth year," Frank replied. "Sorted into Gryffindor last night."

Lily grimaced, realizing who Frank's roommates were.

"Sorry about your dorm-mates," she said. "I'm a sixth year too in Gryffindor."

"So you know them?" Frank asked, walking alongside her into the castle. He looked ridiculous, tugging her too-short robe over his gawky frame. "They were having a party in the room last night."

"Something like that," Lily said faintly. She knew his new roommates better than most. They were the elite of the elite, ruling Hogwarts with their good looks, wit, and popularity: the Marauders. She used to be friends with them. She even used to date one of them. "So what did you do to piss off the Knights?"

"Knights?"

"Knights of Walpurgis," Lily clarified. "They're blood supremacists with an m.o. for stripping people."

"Some grease head named Rabastian approached me on the train," Frank said, a light going off in his eyes. "Asked me if I'd be interested in supporting their cause. Told his incestuous ass to bugger off and fuck his cousin like all of their lot."

Lily's lips twitched up.

"That's Lestrange— king of the grease heads," she said. They'd reached the Gryffindor Common room. "This is where I'll leave you."

"Why? Don't you live here too?" Frank asked.

"Got a charms paper to edit," she replied smoothly. "You can keep the cloak till tomorrow."

"Ugh, I haven't even started that," Frank groaned. "I'm the worst at charms."

"Right then," Lily said. "Nice meeting you Frank Longbottom."

With that she walked away, leaving Frank at the entrance.

He cursed as he realized he'd forgotten the password to the portrait.

Frank

"Rather awful they made you going through sorting with the first years the other night."

Frank had just arrived in the hall for breakfast, unaware of who to sit with. He looked to his side, meeting a warm pair of brown eyes. Their owner was evidently one of the prettiest girls he'd seen, with honey-colored hair and alabaster skin.

"Reckon they think I hit my growth spurt early," he replied. Her lips spread into a smile at his remark.

"I'm Alice," she introduced. "Alice Prewitt."

He leaned towards her.

"Frank Longbottom," he replied, extending his hand. She took it, still smiling widely.

"Wanna join us?" she asked, scooting over so there was room next to her. Before Frank could move, he was suddenly shoved towards her. He turned, cheeks beet red as his new roommates walked by. He saw Sirius, the one who'd told him to stay out of their shit, sneer at him as they walked by.

"Don't mind them," Alice said. "The Marauders are extra wound up this year."

"They're not the friendliest bunch," Frank returned, taking the seat next to Alice.

"I've never heard of you before," Alice commented, looking at him with a frown. "You're not related to Augusta Longbottom are you?"

"She's my mum," Frank replied. "Parents divorced… I was raised in the states and went to school there."

Alice nodded and Frank gawked at the heavy spreads of the food as she introduced him to her friends sitting around them.

"That's Dorcas Meadows," she said, as the girl in front of her waved.

"I'm Benjy," the boy in front of him greeted. "Benjy Fenwick."

He began to eat, listening to the trio talk.

"I heard what Lily did for you," Dorcas commented to him. "How does it feel to be spared by the shrew?"

Alice looked at her with a frown, tucking a lock of her perfect hair behind her ear.

Frank was already in love.

"She's not a shrew Cas," Alice voiced. "The whole mess at the end of last year… poor girl."

"Could've fooled me," Benjy coughed. "She's been right bitchy since we got back."

"She was friendly to me," Frank said, all of them turning to stare at him. Before he could to his statement, he saw Lily enter the hall and lifted his hand to wave her over.

"Don't," Benjy squeaked. "Engaging with Lily is asking for trouble."

"Why? Do you not like her?" Frank asked in confusion.

"She used to be too good for us," Dorcas replied. "Now she's not good enough for anyone."

"She's had a hard year," Alice protested. "Her best friend died."

"We were all friends with Marlene," Dorcas snapped. "None of us went on a tirade and accused Marlene's own cousin of being her killer."

"Woah," Frank said, dumbfounded at the exclamation. Alice shot him a sympathetic look.

"Lily Evans is a contentious figure here," she explained. "Used to be in with the Marauders crowd."

"Used to even date one," Dorcas noted. "The Marauders, her and Marlene McKinnon were a unit."

"Until Remus Lupin broke up with her," Benjy added, before leaning in. "And Marlene died."

"What happened?" Frank asked, fascinated with the story.

"James Potter," Alice answered. "Found Marlene's body out by the pitch last June right before a Gryffindor practice… Poor thing, his parents died when we were kids and he was raised with the McKinnons. He and Marlene were the closest."

"Everybody thought she jumped," Dorcas added. "But then Lily- she's rather a sleuth- figured out Marlene was murdered went on a rampage, accusing Caradoc Dearborn, the Defense professor who's also James and Marlene's uncle, of killing her."

"Why would she do that?" Frank said with a frown. Dorcas shrugged and Alice looked away uncomfortably.

"No one knows," Benjy supplied. "All that matters is that Dante Mulciber confessed to the murder and the Marauders dumped Lily. She cut all her hair, slagged around and turned into the icy shrew of Gryffindor."

"Aw, Benjy that's sweet of you."

Frank fought the urge to groan as he turned and saw that Lily was standing behind them. She looked at all of them with disdain and he swallowed.

"I came to ask if you wanted to look at my paper," she said, holding out a scroll. "But I'm sure you can ask any of this lot for help."

With that Lily flounced away and Frank cursed.

"See she's so condescending," Dorcas scoffed. "Thinking that you'd want her help."

"I told her I was crap at Charms yesterday," Frank replied, grabbing his bag and following her out. "Lily wait!"

She ignored him walking on and he reached for her elbow, Lily jerking back from him and had her wand out.

"Woah," he said, raising his arms. "I just wanted to apologize for what they were saying."

Lily let out a testy sigh in front of him and put her wand away.

"It's true," she suddenly said. "Everything they said is true… Except for the part where I cut my hair. That was actually Sirius. Lit my hair on fire by "accident" during the train ride home last year."

"That's cruel," Frank commented. Lily shrugged. She used to be Sirius's confidante, the two confessing their tense home lives and worsening sibling relationships with each other.

"Calling the Marauders cruel is an understatement," Lily replied. "What have you got now?"

"Potions," Frank replied. Lily smiled.

"So do I," she mentioned. "And I'm in need of a new Potions partner."

"And I'm crap at Potions too," Frank announced. Lily laughed, walking with him towards the dungeons.

5th year

"Come on Lily," Marlene declared, giving her a wild grin. "It's just going to be running over the syllabus today."

"It's the first day of class!" Lily protested, watching her friend as Marlene danced around the shore of the Black Lake. "And it's OWLs year."

"But the weather's lovely," Marlene pouted, tugging at her shirt. "And we wore our bikini tops to tan."

"After class," Lily insisted. But Marlene was already removing her shirt and lay down next to Lily, basking in the warm Scottish sun. With long blonde hair and a body taut from Quidditch and Mrs. McKinnon's nordic genes, Marlene was enviable. But Lily had never envied her perfect bum or wide eyes the way their roommates had. She grew up envying Marlene's bubbly personality, fit to make anyone feel at home.

"Live a little Lily," she purred, reaching for a copy of Witch Weekly.

"I agree whole-heartedly."

Lily turned around, seeing that the Marauders had appeared, Sirius Black's attention intensely on Marlene's near-naked chest.

"Sirius," Marlene cooed. "I hope you boys brought some gillyweed."

"When would we not?" Sirius teased, leaning down and reaching for Marlene. To Lily's surprise, he and Marlene were back-on, the pair having been consumed in a tempestuous on-again, off-again relationship since third year.

"Lo Lovely," Remus Lupin greeted, sitting beside her. They'd been dating since fourth-year spring, writing to each other all summer. She'd been pleasantly surprised when he asked her out, having always thought Remus with his robin shell blue eyes, affinity for chocolate, and kind personality was handsome.

"We have Potions," Lily said dryly. Remus chuckled, reaching for one of her long curls and tugging it. "Remus be the voice of reason here."

"Fine," he said, rising and helping her up. He reached for both of their bags and Marlene looked over with a scoff.

"You two dorks are perfect for each other," she noted.

"Come on Moony," Sirius said, raising the joint he'd just rolled. "The weather's brilliant."

"We'll join after class," Remus said, squeezing her hand. Lily turned to leave with him, walking away. She felt something hot on her back and turned, catching James Potter's gaze as he watched them walk up back to the castle.

In their first years at Hogwarts James had been obsessive over her, writing Lily ballads and enchanting cupids to follow her around and sing praise. But it had been some type of twisted joke that was quickly shut down in third year when she and Marlene began spending more time with his group.

Now, he'd taken a firm policy of neutrality, the pair having exchanged few words in the past two years. She'd even overheard him once telling Sirius how he couldn't stand her annoying presence.

"Thanks for coming with me," she said to Remus, looking up. He'd thrown one arm over her shoulder and carried their bags with his other. "I know you wanted to stay with your mates."

"I'd go anywhere with you Lovely," he replied, smiling warmly at her.

Life was perfect.

AN: A story loosely inspired by Veronica Mars with a few twists here and there. Hoping to get chapters out twice a week, with a new mystery line per chapter. Always appreciating the reviews!

R&R