The sun shone down on the grassy fields in the middle of the mountains. The mountains had lost most of their snow from the long winter months. They stood as grey monoliths around the open fields. On one side of the valley was the Great Lake and it was truly a great lake. The water rippled as something underneath moved through the clear blue waters. Next to the lake was a large bank. Along the side of the bank was built a large castle, invisible to the normal eye. Because you see, the castle was not a normal castle nor were the residents of the castle. It was magic, as were the residents. The castle was not just a castle, it was also a school for magical children to master their craft. Students from across the British Isles gathered to study. They did not only come to study, they also came to make the friends of a lifetime. Our story begins on the first weekend of the new term.
Alice Falwey took one side of a blanket and Mary Macdonald took the other. They spread it out and placed it on a sunny spot by the lake. Alice Falwey had a short brown bob of hair with square bangs. She had tied it back with a scarf. Mary Macdonald was a fair girl with a deep brown complexion. Her thick black hair was pulled back into two plaits. Her and Alice examined their handy work. The four blankets were set up in a square. Alice flagged down Frank Longbottom, boyfriend of Alice, Emmeline Vance, and Kingsley Shacklebolt, crush of Mary and best friend of Frank. Frank had sandy brown hair and was trying to grow a beard, but please, do not ask him about it. Emmeline was a dark haired girl with dark monolid eyes. Kingsley was a talk black boy, with an afro. He was also the top of their class, with his biggest rival being Lily Evans and of course, Pandora Lovegood.
"Hi boys" Alice waved.
"Hey Mary, Alice" Frank approached his sweetheart, he greeted her with a kiss
"Hi Mare," Kingsley said. Mary blushed slightly
"Hi Kingsley" she muttered
"Do they always have to do this?" Kingsley rolled his eyes
"At least they aren't as bad as James and Lily. Those two can't seem to keep their hands off of each other" Mary said
"And to think, she hated him until 6th year." Kingsley said
"No, she didn't" Mary said
Speaking of Lily and James, they arrived along with Peter Petteigrew. Lily Evans was, plainly speaking, a striking girl. She had auburn hair and emerald green eyes. She had an acid wit to match her striking features. Her boyfriend, James Potter, was as handsome as she was beautiful. He was half Indian and half english. He had golden brown skin, jet black messy hair, happy hazel eyes and a lopsided grin, which was usually plastered on his face. Peter Petteigrew was a short, blonde boy who's features were almost mouselike. Lily smiled when they saw them.
"Hi guys" James said, with his signature lopsided grin.
"Hey James" they said
"Is Dorcas or Marls here yet?" Lily asked
"Not yet, them, Sirius and Remus are getting the food" Emmeline said.
"You let Sirius and Marls do something together?" Lily asked, a skeptical expression crossed her face.
"Remus and Dorcas were supposed to supervise." Emmeline shrugged. A loud bang blasted through the bank. The group turned around to see Marlene McKinnon and Sirius Black, adoptive brother of James, sprint down the grass with what appeared to be fire whiskey. Right behind them were Dorcas Meadows and Remus Lupin. They were talking and walking with a large picnic basket each.
"Look what we got!" Marls cheered
"Grade A, real deal fire whiskey" Sirius showed
"Where did you even get fire whiskey?" Frank asked
"Knicked it from Dumbledore's personal store" Marls said. Remus took the bottle from Marls' hand. "Hey" she said, turning to face him
"No drinking on school premises McKinnon" Remus said
"Stop being such a prat Remus. You're not even head boy" she fumed
"I'm still a prefect" he said
"Did you guys at least get some butter beer?" James asked
"We got pumpkin juice," Doras said, shoving a bottle into James' hand.
"What are we? 4?" James asked. Dorcas and Remus dropped their picnic baskets. The gang opened the baskets and began to spread out their contents. Dorcas and Remus had gotten a collection of pasties, sandwiches, salads and dips. They had gotten an array of desserts as well.
The gang sat down on the blankets and dug in. Remus took a swing of Marles' fire whiskey. Marles turned bright red. Dorcas grabbed Marls and held her back. Lily Evans watched the tree above them with James' head in her lap. She saw a leaf drop onto her nose.
"How many more weeks like this do you think we have left?" She asked him
"What do you mean Lily?"
"Days where we can just sit and have a picnic by the lake." She asked
"Well, we probably have like 4 weeks until the weather turns and then about 3 months at the end of the year and then we graduate" he said
"I can't believe we're almost done" she said her tone apprehensive
"Why do you sound so worried?" James sat up and asked
"It's just, everything's gonna change after graduation"
"Not really, you're gonna get an apartment with Marls, Dorcas, Em, Panda, Mary, and Alice and you'll share a room with Alice because you'll be going to the Aurors Academy together. Me, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Frank, and Kingsley will have the apartment down the hall so I can patch you up after Auror missions. I'll get my healing certificate and you'll graduate from the Aurors academy and then we'll get married and have 3 to 4 kids" he said with a smile. Lily wrapped her arms around her legs
"What about that dark wizard, the one Dumbledore warned us about last year?" Lily asked
"That's what Aurors are for." James said with a shrug
"James, he wants to kill muggleborns and exalt pureblood ideals." James smile faded
"If he wants to get to you, he's going through all of us"
"James, Remus is a werewolf, Sirius is a gay blood traitor, Marls and Dorcas have been snogging for months now, Em and I are muggleborns. Peter can't stand up for himself-"
"It will be ok Lily." James promised. Pandora Lovegood approached the group with a blonde boy in tow. Pandora was a pretty girl with dirty blonde hair and bright, large blue eyes.
"Everyone, meet my new boyfriend Xeno. He's in Ravenclaw with me. Xeno, these are my friends" she said
"Hi, nice to meet all of you," he said. Sirius and Marls shared an evil grin.
"Hi Xeno, welcome to the Marauders" Alice said
"Given that you are dating Pandora, that makes you a candidate for the Marauders" Marls said
"In order to join, you need to finish our initiation rituals" Sirius said
"Should we stop them?" Lily asked
"I'm not going to" Remus said, taking another swing of fire whiskey.
"Dorcas?" She shook her head
"Em? Mary? Alice?" They all shook their heads.
"Anyone?" Lily asked
"Shh, Lily, this is gonna be funny" James said
That is the tale of how Xenophilius Lovegood ended up hanging from a floating candle in the great hall, covered in feathers.