Chapter-1: The letter.

October 1975

Lily P.O.V

Lily was bored. She had finished all her homework and learnt all the spells for her charms test next week. Today was surprisingly one of the few days that Potter left her alone. And by Potter she was referring to the arrogant toe-rag and his friends who bullied poor first-years. Well, except Remus, she supposed. He was the best out of the lot. To sum it up, she had nothing to do, and her friends had all gone out with their boyfriends or something of the sort. She was also not expecting any mail, so when an owl perched on her hair in an attempt to get her attention, all she could do was stare in shock.

A few seconds of mindless staring later, she quickly took the letter from the owl and shooed said bird away. Opening the letter, she was astounded by the contents. Of course, the details of most of the stuff went over her head. She didn't even know what half the stuff meant and that itself meant trouble because she was one of the smartest students in the school. But she supposed there would be no harm in asking Potter and Black for help. Even if the letter hadn't specified it, she would have asked Remus. He was one of her best friend, and almost older brother, except the fact that she was elder than him.

She shook herself out of her stupor and went to find the Marauders. Hopefully, they were somewhere near their usual spot by the lake. Predictably, it didn't take her long to find them, indeed near the lake.

"Hey, Lily," Remus said, when she was still quite a distance away. She was used to his odd ability and just grinned.

"Hey, Rem. How are you doing? Where are Potter and Black?" she asked, knowing that Pettigrew would be with them, hovering somewhere nearby, as she neared Remus.

He looked up at her, his too-long tawny hair falling into his amber eyes. "They are playing in the lake. They won't disturb us for about fifteen minutes. Do you want to tell any of them something?"

"Er… yeah. All of you. Is there somewhere we can go where we won't be heard?" She asked, nervously.

Remus had a thoughtful expression on his face, before he nodded and called the other three boys who were playing in the lake.

"Moony… why did you have to interrupt our wonderful game?" Sirius asked, pushing his silky, black hair out of his cold, grey eyes. It took the lot of them about a second before they noticed her.

"Hey, Lily. Wonderful day, isn't it? Is there a reason you are here? Perhaps to go out with me?" James asked, messing up his sopping wet hair. Lily glared and was about to respond with an angry retort, when Remus interrupted.

"Prongs, Pads, Wormy. Get some clothes on. Something that's dry unless you want to go to Madam Pomfrey. And then come over to the Room. I'm taking Lily there, via the long route. There seems to be something important that she has to tell us."

James and Sirius seemed to understand whatever Remus had said and just nodded. Peter sighed, "I was having fun though." He whined. "You owe me, Lils."

Lily and Peter were sort of friends. She helped him with studies, and he kept her entertained.

"Of course, Pete. I'll help you with your potions for the rest of the term, as long as you don't complain," she said, looking at Remus as well. He grinned, and then took her hand and pulled her towards the castle.

"Hey, Moony. Which room?" Sirius asked. Lily was confused, but obviously Remus knew what he meant.

"The one on the fifth floor, Slytherin wing."

In less than ten minutes, they were all sitting in a Slytherin-themed room. Entering and finding the room had been a challenge. It was in the middle of an abandoned wing and you had to go through some complex movements just to enter the room. Normally, she wouldn't have found it, but the Marauders seemed to have claimed it as their own and she could see signs that people had visited recently. There was chocolate stashed around the room (no question about who those were for!), and piles of blankets and even a coffee machine (whether that worked or not was another question...).

The room was enormous, with a high ceiling. There were no portraits or windows. The room was warm though, perfect for just sitting around and lounging. There was a long, grey sofa on one side of the room, which Remus had spread himself across. Below that on the floor was a pile of blankets, which Sirius had claimed. Peter was sitting on a counter behind which was a kitchenette. James was obviously the only one other than her with any sense, because he was sitting on one of the armchairs. He was also sprawled across with his legs over one side and his head over the other, but he was sitting the best. Lily, herself was sitting straight and perfectly, well… perfect on the other black armchair.

"So, Lily-flower. Is there a reason you wanted to talk to us privately?" James broke the silence. He was surprisingly serious compared to his normal annoying self.

"Well, yes. You see, just before I came to call you all, I received a rather mysterious letter from someone. There was a lot of stuff written there which I did not understand, but it did mention that I should ask for your help. And by you, I mean all the Marauders, not just you James," she said, anticipating what he was going to say. Sirius and Remus smirked at James crestfallen look while Peter put his hand on James shoulder, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'Tough luck, mate.'

"Alright. Do you mind if I read the letter out loud?" Remus asked her.

"Be my guests!"