"Lily?" She jerked back to the present. "What's up, girl. You look like you just lost your best friend." Lily looked sadly at Katie.
"I may have, Kate." She said and disapparated. Her two friends just stared at the place Lily had been standing. Then they looked at each other and shrugged. If Lily didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be found. It was probably just about Jeff, anyway. Remus was jerked back to the present as someone knocked on the door. He got up and answered it. It was Lily.
"Is he here?" she asked. Remus knew who she meant. He nodded.
"In the living room." He wasn't going to ask how she knew where they lived. Lily had many connections in the Ministry. Lily stopped, uncertain, in the doorway. James was sitting on the floor, facing her. Sirius had been standing with his back to the doorway, but when he saw James looking at something, he turned around. His eyes met Lily's and they shared perhaps their first moment of understanding. She walked into the room, now sure of what she was doing, and collapsed at his feet, crying. Sirius just stood there for a moment, uncomfortable, and then he bent down and gathered her in his arms and cried with her. Sirius Black cried. No one had ever seen him cry. Not when Gryffindor lost the Quidditch Cup to Slytherin, not when he found his brutally murdered parents' bodies. Nothing. Except this poor girl apologizing, trying to make up for all the time she had misjudged him and mistreated him. James quietly got up and left, dragging Remus with him. Sirius pulled Lily up and they sank onto the vacant couch. Her sobs quieted and they just sat there, content, understanding.
"Does this mean you're no longer averse to sharing my bed?" Sirius joked. Lily playfully slapped him.
"As long as Remus can be in it, too." She replied. Two could play at that game.
"Why stop there? Let's add James into the mix as well."
"What about me?" James asked, entering the room.
"And we can all enjoy ourselves in the midst of a giant chalupa."
"A chalupa?" Sirius asked incredulously.
"What is going on?" Remus asked as he came into the room bearing bottles of butterbeer. He tossed one to each of his friends. James snatched Lily's in midair, opened it, and handed it to her, grinning like a madman. She gave him a soft smile back.
"Oh, we're just all going to have a wild foursome in a giant chalupa." Sirius replied nonchalantly. Remus choked on his butterbeer and Lily hit him hard on the back. The beer went everywhere. Soon, all four of them were laughing on the floor, unable to move. Lily was the first one to calm down. She reached for her wand and cleaned up the mess with a simple charm. She smiled sympathetically at her friends still laughing on the floor.
"I'm going home now. You guys can stop by later if you want." She disapparated.
"Oh my gosh, Lily, where have you been?" Lily sighed and prepared herself to be interrogated thoroughly. Her friends seemed happy when she told them that they and the Marauders were now friends. They seemed ecstatic when James stopped by and asked the three of them to a party at their place later on. The party was fun for some. Lily saw people she hadn't seen since she left Hogwarts. No Slytherins, though. Men kept trying to help Lily with anything she tried to do. She felt suffocated. See, Lily was a good girl. The kind of girl these men wanted to show their mothers and marry when they were ready to settle down. That's why she contrasted so greatly with her friends. They were a good time, and she was a quiet, let's go to the opera time. She sat on a chair in the living room, surrounded by adoring men and hating every moment of it. Sirius and Jas had gone upstairs a while ago, and Remus was nowhere in sight.
"Would you like to dance with me, Lily?" Simpered a blonde named Jason. Lily was about to gracefully turn him down when a male spoke from behind her.
"Actually, she promised this dance to me." It was James. Lily smiled gratefully at him as he led her to the room where people were dancing. Lily had been itching to dance, but couldn't dance with the others because they would think she meant something by it.
"Thanks," Lily said as they started to dance.
"No problem. You looked like you needed some help." Lily flashed him another grateful smile. James started noticing little things about Lily that he really liked. Her smile, for one. She could brighten a room with that grin. The way she danced. Very well, not too close, but not so far that it could be denied that she was dancing with him.
"May I cut in?" Asked Remus, tapping James on the shoulder. James shot a glare at his friend, but as he left, Moony slipped a piece of parchment into his hand. James felt that this was slightly more important than just a dance with Lily. Making his excuses to a few drunk girls who wanted to join him, he made his way up to his room. He checked every corner of the room twice over before sitting on the ground and unrolling the parchment. It was blank. Moony moved onto the parchment.
"Think like a map." The picture said. James grinned. His friend was a genius.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." James said, tapping the parchment. Moony began talking quickly in a low voice.
"I've found out who Voldemort was. He went to Hogwarts. Prefect, Head-Boy, in Slytherin. He is supposedly the Heir of Slytherin. His muggle father abandoned his mother when he found out she was a witch. The mother named him Tom Marvolo Riddle. Raised in a muggle orphanage. He got an award for special services to the school the year the Chamber of Secrets was opened. It was said he got the award for capturing the Heir, the only one able to open the Chamber and control the horror within, and closing the Chamber. Hagrid was expelled that same year. You and I both know there is no way in hell Hagrid would kill a student. Riddle probably framed him. If you rearrange the letters of his name, it spells out 'I am Lord Voldemort.' Meet me at the place on the night before. This message will self-destruct in 10 seconds." The picture grinned. "I've always wanted to say that." The parchment burst into flame and burned to ashes in James' hand. The flames weren't hot. The night before, well that would be the night before the full moon. The place? Wherever Moony went to transform these days. James could always ask him without giving much away. James went downstairs to find that all except the Marauders and the girls were gone. The five of them were listlessly wandering around, cleaning up. Remus raised his eyebrows and James nodded slightly to show that he got the message. He helped them clean up and said good-bye to the girls. James walked Remus to the door.
"Say, Moony. Where are you transforming these days." Remus nodded, almost as if to say, right on.
"Dumbledore lets me use the Shrieking Shack." James nodded.
"See you later."
"Bye." James shut the door firmly behind his friend.