The one where Ginny/Lily alienates Peter
James hovered on his broom, searching for the Snitch. Faintly, he heard "ten points to Gryffindor" and a cheer from the stands. Everything he did now, he did it automatically. Rise slowly to avoid Quaffle, clutch broom tighter with hands, regain balance and look for something golden other than the cheering crowd.
The Ravenclaw Seeker was darting everywhere. She would see a flash and start flying towards it and then realize shortly after that it was just the reflection of a watch in the sun. James knew better than to follow anything that didn't have wings or an annoying habit of being on the opposite side of the Pitch.
He had been playing the game since his second year in fact, several people on his team had. The Ravenclaws decided to change most of their players for new ones at the beginning of this year, making them too inexperienced, even though they trained every evening the Quidditch Pitch wasn't in use.
James turned his broom slightly to the left and did a sweep of the Pitch. He passed the Gryffindor stands and gave them thumbs up, seeing Remus, Lily cheering wildly, and an aloof Peter sullenly waving a flag. Ever since Lily found out that she was a phoenix, he had been cold towards her. The reason he was staying away from her at the Quidditch Match was that there were no brownie points to for him to make in fraternizing with her.
With a jolt of excitement, one that didn't make him instantly zoom off, he saw the Golden Snitch. Cautiously, he looked to see if the Ravenclaw Seeker had seen it. Much to his relief, she was following a Galleon someone had dropped from the stands. Leaning forward, he flew as if continuing his arc of the Pitch. The Golden Snitch was waiting for him, and he collected it as he passed.
'James Potter has got the Snitch, that's right, James Potter has collected the Snitch for one-hundred and fifty points to Gryffindor and the end of the game! Gryffindor win, two hundred and thirty to one-seventy!' shouted the commentator.
James flew down to the ground, grinning, the wind ruffling his hair wildly. Sirius, the ever excitable, lifted him on his shoulders. It was their biggest win all season and more than an adequate reason to celebrate. The other Gryffindor players couldn't even congratulate their Seeker, Sirius had run off with him to where Remus, Peter and Lily were standing on the Pitch, laughing.
'Sirius, put him down before you break his neck!' Lily said sternly, the tone not working with her laughter.
'Let me down, Padfoot. Go to the kitchens and steal some food for the party!' James said.
That worked. Sirius let go of his legs and James fell off his shoulder on to the hard ground. Lily knelt by him, trying to hide the grin still evident on her face. Sirius put an arm around Remus and Peter's shoulders. 'Come on guys. We'll go set up.' With that, they headed off the Quidditch Pitch that was emptying fast of the supporters.
Lily helped him to his feet. 'Are you alright?'
'Yeah, just a bit of a bruised dignity as well as my butt.' James chuckled softly. He raised his eyes to Lily's seeing her cheeks flushed from the cold, hair blown about by the wind and her sparkling eyes. He held the hand she used to help him up tighter. 'Lils, will you go out with me?'
Lily stopped breathing, the weight of the question upon her. If she said no, Harry wouldn't be born and she would change the future so much that she might not be born. If she said yes, she was leading herself down a road of temporary happiness but eventual murder.
Slowly, she said: 'Yeah, sure James.' If Voldemort was going to kill her, bring it on. Lily had pined away for Harry without any feelings returned for so long that to have James, an even better version of Harry, like her and want to go out with her made her feel dizzy. In a nice sort of way.
He grinned and hugged her. Together they walked off the pitch.
'I swear, if we do it really carefully, we won't get caught.' Sirius whispered to James, Peter and Remus. 'We have the Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map. It'll work.'
'Speed.' James said softly. 'We need speed for this to work. Two of us can move quickly enough under the Cloak, but the other two would be at the mercy of the Map.'
'If the Map stops half way, we would be stuck in the halls like sitting ducks.' Remus breathed, the horror making each boy turn cold.
'But, it won't.' Sirius said firmly. 'Imagine all the contraband in Filch's office. Filibuster Fireworks and everything. Our pockets won't be big enough!'
'I'd better not go. I'd just slow you down.' Peter mumbled. He was becoming even more worried about his weight since his father threatened to take him to Fat Camp in the summer holidays.
Sirius, as much as he tolerated Peter's presence in the group and appreciated his friend in his own way, couldn't help but agree. Carefully, he said: "Peter, maybe it would be a good idea for you to stay out of this one? If one of us is caught, all of us are dead meat."
Remus nodded. 'We could take Lily instead. She's fast and none of the teachers have any reason to suspect her.'
James looked uncomfortable. 'I don't know, guys. If she gets caught she'll be angry.'
'Hmm, Lils could use your Cloak with Remus. You and I can use the Map.' Sirius announced with a tone of finality.
'Pete, will you stay behind and let us use you as an alibi?' James asked. 'We'll split the loot with you, equally.'
'Of course, Prongs.' Peter said, smiling. Some day, Lily Evans was going to pay for cutting him out of the Marauders, even if he had to sell his soul to the devil.
Sirius paced the room; a map hung in mid air. Color-coded lines meant to signify people were squiggling up and down the page. 'Ok, men and lady, what is our motivation?'
'To get as much confiscated, potentially harmful items from Filch's office.' James said, grinning.
'Who will be creating the diversion for Filch?' Sirius asked.
'Lils and I will be.' said Remus. He already had the Invisibility Cloak folded over one arm.
'I've got a few ideas to get Filch out of his office.' Lily ran a hand through her hair, smiling at James.
'Right, and where will James and I be?'
'We'll be sneaking into his office, using the Marauder's Map.' He tapped it fondly.
'All right, you all know what to do. Be careful out there people. If Filch chases any one of you, don't lead him back here, or to his office.' Sirius said the rule that they all knew off by heart. He finally turned to Peter who had been sitting on the sofa, looking sullen. 'What will you be doing, Peter?'
'Waiting here, prepared to lie to Professor McGonagall.' He said.
'Thanks Pete. Next Hogsmeade trip, I'll buy you a whole tub of ice cream.' James said, patting the lad's shoulder.
'Thanks James.' Peter took out a book and began reading it so he didn't have to see them leaving.
Lily and Remus walked briskly, their legs moving in synch. They stopped outside a knight's armor that was a fair distance from Filch's office. The plan was to tip over the armor, cause a huge noise and lead Argus out so that James and Sirius could sneak in.
'Here comes James and Sirius.' Lily said. Padfoot and Prongs were hiding behind a statue of one of the Founders, Helga Hufflepuff by the girth of her. They gave them the thumbs up sign.
Remus and Lily got behind the knight and pushed. Slowly, the tin man fell down on the stone castle floor. The sound was loud enough to reach through several floors. They both were stunned at the noise. The door flung open and Lily could see a snarling Filch standing at the door. James and Sirius were much closer to the man. He started to make his way towards Remus and Lily. The other two slipped into the office and closed the door.
Lily pulled out her wand and whispered a charm. The suit of armor on the opposite side started doing a strange parody of the chicken dance. Filch's attention was given to the dancing knight as it started circling him. Remus was having a hard time not laughing. With a flick of Lily's wand, the knight set off down the corridor, the metal clanging every time it took a step. Filch took off after it.
James and Sirius opened the door again, their pockets bulging. Lily prodded Remus and they walked back to Gryffindor Tower, smiles on their faces.
'Holy cow.' whispered Lily, an arm around both Sirius and James' necks. 'That is some illegal stuff!'
Tipped out on to the desk in the corner was the loot they had stolen. Fireworks, a jar of jumping beans, books that should have been in the restricted section of the library, it was the best Christmas gift they could have gotten themselves. Sirius let out a gasp as he saw a worn book.
'Oh my stars, James!' He said, picking it up to look at it closer. 'This is the Bible.'
'The Bible? God and stuff?' Lily asked, confused.
'No, my dear sweet naïve, Lily. This is the Prankster's Bible.' His eyes were shining.
'I thought he burnt it,' said James. 'Sirius and I found it a secret box in the library. We've lived by its rules ever since then.'
'We lost it last year. It fell out of my pocket when we were running away from Filch. He picked it up and we went on the recovery mission to find it. I could have sworn I saw him throw it in the fire.' Sirius' hands were shaking as he turned the pages. 'It's not even singed!'
'Each of the Marauders put their hand on the Prankster's Bible and vowed to always break the rules.' James grinned. 'After the Christmas holidays I think we should bestow it to the first years.'
'It's our job as role models for the younger ones.' Remus said solemnly.
Peter walked down the stairs, his colorless hair ruffled. 'Guys, you're back.'
'Guess what we found, Pete! The Prankster's Bible.' Sirius handed it reverently over to the boy.
'Wow.' He breathed and handed it back. 'Now, what did you bring me?'
On Christmas Day, Lily woke blearily to Sirius, James, Remus and Peter around her bed. All the other girls had long gone back home and she was the only girl left in her dorm. Janet's extra protections were gone so that her friends could come in whenever they wanted. There was an unspoken agreement that they wouldn't bother her when she was changing. That was more for James' sake than Lily's.
''Bout time you woke up.' Sirius said. 'I've been prodding you for the last ten minutes.'
'Good morning. Happy Christmas.' James kissed her forehead then yanked her out of bed. Lily rubbed her face to get rid of sleep and walked down the stairs, the four lads bounding before her.
Piles of presents were waiting for them. Even Lily, whose parents weren't even considering having children yet, had a few. Peter's were food, cheese and chocolate especially. As a gag gift, Lily had given him some chocolate covered cheese.
'Merry Christmas, guys.' Lily said, yawning. She began unwrapping the present from Sirius. Much to her amusement, there was a badge that said "Honorary Marauder" and a framed picture of them all at the party after James' big win. 'Thanks Padfoot.'
He kissed her cheek with a deliberate sound. 'No problem, Lils. Thanks for the gloves.'
Lily grinned. 'Put them on.'
Sirius shrugged his shoulders and slipped them on his hands. 'They are rather dashing gloves, Lily.' No sound came out.
'They are Gloves of Silence. It should make you silent to everyone else. I made them myself.'
He took them off and gave her a bear hug. 'That's an awesome gift. Imagine all the sneaking I'll be able to do.'
'Much better than a normal pair of gloves, I hope.' She laughed.
Sirius smiled and let her go. He went to look for some first years to frighten. Lily watched as Remus opened his own present. 'What is it, Lils?' He asked.
'Cap of Wisdom. It makes the wearer able to think clearer. Not that you should really need that.'
'I wonder if Vassus will let me wear it on the big Potions exam.' Remus pondered. 'Thanks.'
James put arms around her. 'Where did you get all these plans from?'
'One of the books we stole from Filch.' She shrugged. 'I went down to Hogsmeade one night and bought the materials.'
'Where did you get the money? I thought your parents put your pocket money in a safe account.'
'I sold one of my phoenix feathers. Remember last week when you noticed my hair was shorter?'
'And how lovely it looks.' He smiled. 'Open my present, please?'
Lily unwrapped the gift that James had given her. Her fingers brushed against a cool material and she gasped. 'Oh my gosh.' She stood, lifting the dress out of the paper.
James' gift was a dress made of slippery cream colored silk. 'I brought a picture of you to the lady in Gladrags and she said she had the perfect dress. It's your size, too. I used my wand to get them.' He was blushing.
'It's stunning. Thank you so much, James.' She leaned down and kissed him on the lips. They had been going out for nearly two weeks and this was the first kiss Lily had initiated.
'I'd love it if you went to the Yule Ball with me and wore it.' He had a hopeful smile on his face.
'Of course, I'd go with you! And this dress just wants to be worn.' Lily ran up the stairs to put away the dress. She returned to see James opening his present from her.
'A sword, Lily?' He grinned, taking the shiny blade out of the sheath. He swung it in an arc, careful to avoid hitting something.
Lily had seen Harry ogle all the swords in a store at Hogsmeade. Much to her amusement, James had a similar fascination with weapons. It had been too easy to buy it. No identification needed. 'Don't kill anybody, please.'
'Ah, guys, are you coming to breakfast?' Remus asked.
'Yeah, I guess.' James replaced the sword in the scabbard and used the Banishment charm on the gifts. They went back up to the room. 'Lily, may I escort you?'
'Better say yes or it'll look like you're stalking me!' She grinned and linked her arm with his.
Author's Note: Thanks to oliverswife25 and Darth Flirt (I had the first chapter written the night before I uploaded it and I had a lot of free time yesterday, hee hee.) for the reviews. Oh, and to Queen of the Books, thanks to you too. For a while there I was freaking out because I wrote the wrong year (after all that effort and Maths makes me sleepy!) but then I realized, the Time-Turner! Yay. She's as old as them because of her reliving her years.
To all of ye, my belief is that I have a future version of myself runnin' around. Ginny's gonna be meeting herself in the not-to-distant future. Or is it past? Oh jeeze, Maths and Time Travel make me sleepy. Oh, and I'm sorry that this chapter had a lot of fluff in it, I think. I needed these things and I know they probably don't make for interesting reading...but yeah. Thanks to everyone who reads the story!