"How?" asked Minerva McGonagall.  She had been so sure that her rooms were safe from the rampage that students were on lately.  First Professor Sprout, then, Iniquitas, Binns, Sinistra, and then Trelawney.  And now her.  Rooms redecorated, not that it wasn't good taste, but just the thought!  If anyone had found those letters- No, they didn't.  They didn't even find the box where I have them, Minerva thought.  Heavens, this room is a mess!  Just bloody awful, the way no one could prove that it was indeed the Marauders.  Oh, how those boys vexed her.  And Minnie was certain that little Lily Evans was helping them.  Of course, she was glad that Lily had made friends in third year, but she knew from the first day in Transfiguration, when Lily went to sit with Sirius and Remus, that trouble was coming.  And it was.  Minerva should have been the Divination professor, not Trelawney.

                At that very time, Lily was indeed with the Marauder's, plotting the biggest prank that they had ever pulled off.  It was very risky, yet when they pulled it off, no one would be spared humiliation.  At least, no one by the names of Malfoy, Goyle, Crabbe, Nott, Avery- well, suffice it to say, there was going to be a lot of angry Slytherins.

                "Pour it in here, Peter," whispered James.  He carefully held open a very large bag.

                "Hurry up!  I think somebody might be coming!" whispered Sirius.

                "No, that's just Remi," Lily said.  Sirius cracked up.

                "What?" Lily asked, irritated.

                "Remi!" he replied, wheezing for breath.

                "Yes?" Remus.

                "Do you have the bowl and map?" demanded James.

                "Yes," Remus replied.

                "So we just put this on the table where they'd be sitting, in the kitchens?" asked Peter, still a little confused.

                "Yes," Remus said.

                "Don't worry, Petey, it'll go fine!" James said, reassuringly.

                "Yes!" Remus agreed.

"Can you say anything besides yes, Remus?" asked Sirius, amused.

                "Yes!"  Remus protested.  Everyone keeled over, laughing.

~~~

                Lily was working harder than ever.  She was training for Aurorship, and going two extra nights a week for training.  Basically, she had two free nights a week.  It would have been fine, if she was friends with anyone but the Marauders.  She often had to turn time back to go on a midnight excursion with them.  It took it out of her faster than you could say cheese. 

Of course, Gen assured her that it would not be tiring at all, once Lily had stopped growing.  Lily had discovered that through a blank page at the back of Tutela Iubar she could communicate with Gen. All that was required was to talk to the book.  Lily had found that out one night when she was working on a particularly difficult wandless spell.  She had been a little exasperated, and yelled at the book.  Okay, so I had a full-on temper tantrum, she admitted to herself.  Gen had replied with, "My, oh my!  What a distraught little child!"  Things had developed from there.

Lily was supposed to have been training behind Jinglewort, but it was All Hollow's Eve, and she deserved a break.  Besides, the prank was on, and she was a crucial part of the plan.

"Okay, now, look innocent.  Right, now set off those fireworks.  Good, they'll think that's all," whispered James, looking over at the blown up Slytherin table which was fixed by a flick of Dumbledore's wand.

"Potter!  Black!  Lupin!  Pettigrew!  Evans!" Minnie screeched.  "Detention!"

"Poor Minnie, now that she has to add Evans, it takes her longer.  She still half forgets it each time!" remarked Sirius.  Fortunately, Minnie didn't hear that.

"Okay, ready, and, now!" James whispered.  The group went into action.  Peter had done the fireworks, so it was his turn to be sentry.  As the Slytherins were choking on their suddenly spicy food, with no liquids in sight, Lily went to ground.  She snuck to the entrance of the Great Hall, and got ready to cast a group charm.  They were very difficult, and Lily was half-afraid she wouldn't get all of the Slytherins.  She tightened her grip on her wand, pointed it at the Slytherins running out of the hall, and said, "Commissural Catio Tarantallegra!"  She only hoped that Remus was doing his part of the bargain and turning them into- ah, there it was!  The red firecracker!  Lily rushed to her seat.  James gave her a thumbs-up, so everything had gone off smoothly.

                "Mr. Potter, is one detention not enough?  I know that you threw that firecracker, so don't deny it.  Detention!" Minnie said, angry that it was Gryffindors causing this fuss.  But what should I have expected from this lot? she asked herself regretfully.

                "Of course, Minnie," James said.

                "Potter!  Another detention, for impertinence!"  Minnie started back to the staff table, but halfway there, she turned into a cat.  All the other professors had turned into some sort of animal as well.

                "So far, so good," Sirius whispered.  The doors to the Great Hall slid slowly open.  A line of dancing Jack O' Lanterns came into the Hall, singing "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles.

                "Like the extra touch?" Remus asked, eyes dancing like the Slytherins in their delight.

                One by one, each came up to the Staff Table, stood on it and announced his or her name, year, and best-kept secret.  Malfoy's was that he fancied a House-elf at home.  He went on and on, until Avery knocked him off the table to announce that he loved playing cricket.  One by one, embarrassing secrets came out.  Fortunately, the spells had only included those in third and fourth year.  Maybe if just one seventh year, or particularly vicious sixth year, had become caught in the spells, a blow would have been struck home.  At least ten of the Slytherins from seventh, and two from sixth, were caught in the spells of one Tom Riddle.

~~~

                The Marauders, and Lily, had detention for the next month and a half.  Actually, Lily had it for two weeks.  The teachers still fell for the big-eyed innocent little girl look.

                Lily became more and more adept at her Auror skills.  She had her own horse, like all the Discipulus, and she had named it Faer.  Faer meant spirit in Elvish, which Lily was still very much enamoured with.  Being a witch hadn't cured her desire to meet real elves from the stories of JRR Tolkien.  The stories had come out recently, and Lily was already hooked.  She imagined that Faer was like Shadow-fax, Mithrandir's horse, and could outride anything that came at him.  Lily was very good at riding, and was one of the fastest in the programme.

                She also excelled at all of her other training, except, perhaps, HTH.  Being little had given her no end of trouble.  She was easily man-handled, and couldn't aim high enough to do pressure points.  Fencing was also a little more difficult.  Getting locked hilt to hilt meant that a grown man or woman's strength was bearing down on Lily.  Other than that, she did very well.

                Though she was quite good at woodcraft, the skill that Lily really was best at was Archery.  By the time her testing for Aurorship had come around, Lily could beat Master Sagitto six times out of ten.

                "You're a natural, Zia," he said then, breaking into her thoughts.  "You'll do wonderfully."

                "Okay, Zia, are you ready?" Mr. Beechman asked.  She nodded.

                "You are being tested for Aurorship.  An Auror must always…" Mr. Beechman went on to explain the responsibilities of an Auror.  Lily felt herself getting more and more nervous.

                Each of her instructors had a turn, telling what skills she needed, and what responsibilities came with them.

                Mr Beechman finished, "Do you accept the rules and responsibilities of being an Auror?"
                "I do," Lily said, not quite controlling the shake in her voice.

                "Do you take full and total responsibility for this knowledge, and the knowledge that you could be killed at any point in this test?"

                "I do."

                "Do you swear to stay faithful and true to the nature and intent of this society of Aurors?"

                "I do."

                Then he turned to her instructors.  "Do you, the council, agree that one Lily Azalea Evans should be given this chance to proceed into the life of an Auror?"

                "We do," said all of her instructors.

                "Then, Lily Azalea Evans, do continue on to the next stage.  Hold true to all that you have learned, and all that you hold true.  There will be three series of tests."

                Lily walked into the next chamber, tensed and got ready for action.  But there was nothing, just white walls and a chair.  Lily opted not to sit- first lesson was to never relax in a potentially dangerous situation.  She later decided that the decision was an excellent one- she was still alive to go to the next room five minutes later when another door opened.

                Lily stepped into that room, and found herself in the Arctic.  She somehow knew that it was a mission gone wrong, and that without food or water, she would soon die.  She had neither eaten nor drank in three days.

                "Aye, little lass, I'll gladly give you some food and drink," said a kindly voice.

                "What's the price?" Lily asked, knowing not to trust anyone here.  She was in enemy territory, and no one knew what the rules were.

                "Price?  Just a little bit of information… not much.  Maybe what you're doing out here, your base, how many wands you have…"

                Though Lily desperately needed that food and drink, she could never betray her mission.  "No, thank you, but I have someplace I need to be," she said politely.  He pressured her for another half-hour, and saw that she wasn't going to give in.  The room slowly dissolved, leaving Lily with only the faintest memory of great hunger and terrible thirst.

                All of the following rooms were the same- a test of her loyalty, honesty, and ability to hold out against torture.  That was the worst.  The chamber had been filled with wizards, each taking a turn at practising their Crucio.  Then she was out, out of the building, past the first series of tests.  Onto the second!

                The second series tested her courage- all of her worst fears were thrown at her.  Lily wasn't able to move for a good five minutes after that.  Not after Uncle- Don't think about it, she firmly told herself.  Think about the next series.

                The third, and final, tests were the only ones that Lily knew about ahead of time- the obstacle courses.  She vaulted through a wall of flame, got rid of an unwanted Boggart, and levitated across great chasms.  She swam rivers, rode horses, and shot down bears before they reached her.  Lily fought a variety of opponents, and snuck through woods.  She camped, found food, and generally survived.  By the time she got out, Lily was a mess.  She was nearly in a nervous breakdown, and so exhausted that she could have collapsed where she sat.  But Lily couldn't sleep for weeks after, because every time she closed her eyes,  she could see the face of one of the phantom people that she had killed going through the obstacles staring back at her, blame very clear in their eyes.  She relived the second task, relived each fear, over and over.  Often she woke screaming, and Lina would sit with her until she went back to sleep.  Michelle wasn't the kind of person to do that, and Ara slept like a rock.  Nothing woke her up, unless you knew how to do it properly.

~~~

                Three weeks later Lily was fidgeting nervously as Frank helped her to adjust her new Auror's robes.

                "Don't worry, the hard part is over," Frank told her.

                "I know, but now I actually have to go up there, in front of all those people…" Lily said, voice trembling.

                "Didn't you tell me about a prank that you pulled in the beginning of the year?  You spoke in front of everybody then," he reminded her.

                "That was different," Lily said anxiously.

                "How?"

                "Those were students.  These are Aurors, Frank!  Aurors! What if I say something stupid and everyone laughs?"

                "You won't.  Aren't I an Auror?  Anyways, as you said, they are Aurors.  They've all been through it.  They won't laugh, Lily."

                "If you say so," Lily said, doubtfully.

                "I do," replied Frank.

                "We're starting in five!" called Mr. Beechman.

                One by one, the Aurors were going to be filed onto the stage to sit in a chair engraved with their name.  There were seven total, Lily included.

                She looked out into the crowd and was very much reassured when she saw Professor Dumbledore, who winked at her.  It seemed like no time at all before she was called up to receive her first Auror's jumper.

                "This is one of our best Discipulus's.  She works hard, learns fast, and has quite a bit of natural talent.  You may have noticed that she is a little bit shorter and younger than the rest here.  It has led quite a few to underestimate her.  Don't, because this little girl may very well become the best Auror in the business.  I wouldn't be surprised.  She passed the tests with flying colours, and I'm happy to present her with her first jumper," Mr. Beechman said proudly, handing Lily a plain black jumper with a dark blue stripe on it.

                Then Lily stepped up to make her speech. "Thank you for giving me a chance to prove that I could get here.  I never thought it would be possible for me to ever get here, at least not until I was older, and more experienced.  This means so much to me, and I will do my best to help the wizarding society overcome the growing darkness.  Thank you," Lily said, without a single tremble in her voice.  No one laughed.

~~~

                After the whirlwind of congratulations from Aurors and Professors from Hogwarts, Lily was finally able to collapse behind Jinglewort and examine her jumper more closely.  She knew that for the four levels of Aurors, there were four colours of stripes.  Dark blue for Adiutors, dark green for Reservos, dark red for Integos, and dark purple for Vindicatios.  The Aurors system was based on units.  Five quadrants to every unit, and seven Aurors to every quadrant.  Regular Aurors got one stripe, quadrant heads two, unit heads three, and the commander of the whole group got four.  The highest spot there was, besides Mr. Beechman's post of chairman, was the post Imperator, for males, or Imperatrix, for females.  As of the moment, it was an Imperator.  The Imperator was the head of the Vindicatio group, and therefore, head of the whole league.  If an Auror that had a higher rank told you to do something, you would obey.  The Imperator was the highest of all, and it was every Auror's dream to be Imperator or Imperatrix.

                Slowly, Lily put the jumper away and made her way to the Gryffindor common room.  Halfway there, she nearly fell across the Marauders.  They were talking in hushed voices, and Lily decided to sneak up on them to scare them.  She carefully positioned herself behind a statue, and was ready to jump out, when she heard herself mentioned.

                "We can't tell Lily; it's much too dangerous," Sirius argued in a whisper.

                "It's not fair to leave her out of it either," said Peter.  "She's part of this group!"

                "I agree with Sirius.  Imagine what Remus is going to say when he finds out.  He'll be mad as a hornet, but if he knows that we let Lily try, I wouldn't be surprised if he never spoke to us again," James whispered.

                "Okay, but I still think we're making a mistake," Peter said.

                "Good.  So we can become Animagi, and if all happens well, we can tell Remus.  Then, maybe, we'll discuss the Lily issue again," whispered Sirius.

                Lily was furious.  I can't believe that they'd even consider leaving me out!  Some friends!  At least Peter stuck up for me!  Lily was so furious that she accidentally ran into Snape.

                "Hey!  Watch where you're going!" he yelled.  Then Snape realised who it was.  This is my chance.  I need to show someone that I'm not really as mean as everyone thinks.  Besides, she is my cousin, right?

                "I'm sorry, really sorry, it won't happen again, I promise," Lily was babbling.

                "Hey, don't worry about it.  It happens, right?" Snape said.

"Really?"  Lily asked, surprised.

                "Yes, of course it does.  You look a little upset.  Why don't we go to the kitchens, and you can tell me about it," he said.

                Lily ended up pouring the whole story out to him.  She excluded the part about the Animagi, just saying that they were planning something big and leaving her out of it.  To her surprise, Snape was actually quite nice.  He made cynical, sarcastic comments which had her feeling much better by the time she went back up to the common room.  Snape escorted her halfway, and then made plans with her to meet behind the picture of Willimundo the Worrisome every Sunday night at 8:00.   Lily had found a new friend- in the least likely person of all.

~~~

                When Lily reported to duty as a full-fledged Auror, she was given a type of pager, and told that she would be contacted on that in a case of emergency.  Then she was told that she would go to the same training grounds, at the same time, to keep up with her skills and learn new skills.  She was handed a schedule of when her quadrant patrolled, then told that she wasn't to come in for a fortnight.

                "You need to recover from the experiences in the tests.  It takes a while, and they want you to have full strength before you start," Frank explained.  "So go get some sleep!"

                Lily happily complied, and for the next fortnight, had a normal life again- well, as normal as it could get while one is ignoring the Marauders.