The Marauders were hanging out in their common room, a bit bored. It was a Hogsmeade weekend, but they didn't feel like going that day. James and Remus were playing wizard chess while Sirius and Peter were betting on who was going to win. The girls sat around a table, playing a regular Muggle game of cards on their own. Another girl stepped in, smiling. "Zere you are, James!"

James moaned. "I thought I told you to leave me alone for the entire year if I won the bet! And how did you get in here anyway?"

"Of course you did, Potter," Rebecca grinned, mischievously, "But everything iz null and void when your friends helped you out. I repeat the conversation, YOU turn Miss Red Head to a princess, which means, zat it should have been you and only you to have done anything to help. Zo, our deal iz off, Potter."

Lily banged her cards on the table, a bit annoyed. "It would do a lot of help if you left right now. I have a card game here, and I can't concentrate with you whining all the time."

Sirius nudged his best friend. "Uh-oh, I think there's going to be some girl trouble over here."

"You're telling me," Remus whispered back, looking up from his chess game. "I say, why don't we settle this dispute somewhere else? Gryffindor students come in and out of here you know."

Rebecca glared at Moony, then turned her head back at Lily Evans. Lily was smiling gratefully at Remus. "That's a good idea, Remus, but, I think I'm going to have to say no to that. Miss Ruppert isn't worth my time and effort to actually have a fight with."

Melanie and Sarah watched Lily as she sat back down and took her turn in playing cards. Lily smiled triumphantly, "Oh, look, a full house!"

Something flew at Lily and tugged her hair…hard. "I'm not finished with you yet, Head Girl!"

"Okay, enough, Rebecca," James said calmly, pulling Rebecca with him outside. "You're coming along with me."

The girl gave a triumphant smile, which made Lily angry enough that she actually stopped James from taking Rebecca outside. The Head Girl took her wand out and pushed Rebecca through the door, in turn, telling the Fat Lady to change the password. After that little incident, she sat back down again, this time, not willing to play another game of cards. Sarah sighed. "Wow, that was a good one, Lil. I call that Head Girl Hissy Fit of the Year."

Lily glared at her. "That was not a hissy fit!"

"Oh, yeah, and you didn't just use your wand to ward off a Hogwarts student from entering the common rooms," Sarah said, rolling her eyes. "I mean, really, Lil, get a grip."

Sarah's cousin shrugged. "Hey, Rebecca had no right to come in here, anyway. After all, this is a Gryffindor common room. Who had the nerve to give her the password?"

Peter got up and went to check outside. He came back in, shaking his head. "She's gone, I think. Why don't you put things back to normal, Lil?"

"Are you kidding me?" Lily asked, "And let her back in the room? No."

James raised his wand and put everything right, to Lily's disappointment. She looked at him. "It looks like you don't mind it if she actually stuck by you for the rest of her life."

The Head Boy shook his head, softening. "No, Lil, you can't get in trouble because she made you angry. With your reputation and all, I wouldn't think that Professor McGonagall would be too happy about what you did."

It was a surprise to see Lily shrug about this event. The Lily Evans, not caring whether she got in trouble with the teachers? Remus threw up his hands. "First Potter, now Evans! My goodness! This must be a sign from above!"

"What are you talking about, first Potter?" Lily asked, curious, "He wouldn't care whether or not he's in trouble. Is there something else in your mind, Moony?"

Remus received two jabs from the stomach, one from James and the other from Sirius. Both shut Remus up, and Sirius blabbered out. "Oh, Remus meant nothing about that. Just hallucinating, that's all. He was probably talking about…the next Quidditch match! Yeah, that's it! About how he's working us to our deaths!"

Sarah and Lily looked at each other, puzzled. Melanie nodded, actually knowing what went on. The raven haired girl smiled. "Sirius, why don't you and Sarah play Quidditch for an hour or so?"

"Great idea, Mel!" James cried out, "I'll go with you guys!"

"YOU STAY HERE, POTTER!" Sirius, Remus, and Melanie cried out in unison.

James gulped and sat back down, astonished that they didn't want him to go with them. Melanie grabbed Sarah, and Sirius tugged on Peter, who had no idea what was going on. Lily watched as everyone left except for James and herself. She looked at James. "I wonder what made them do that?"

"I…I don't know either," James stuttered, for the first time, "Maybe because…I don't know."

Lily smiled, and stood up, sighing. "I think I should be heading to the library to study now. Tests are coming up, although you wouldn't care, because you don't seem to have a need to study."

The Head Boy followed her out of the common room. "I'll come with you. Maybe I could help you…um…study?"

"Why not?" Lily said, absentmindedly. She headed downstairs, followed by James, who looked around for signs of Rebecca. To his unfortunate circumstance, she showed up around the corner. "Zere you are, James! I knew you would come out zooner or later!"

Lily sighed and kept on walking, ignoring the girl and leaving James behind to be harassed. He looked to the direction Lily was walking towards and clamored after her, pushing students in his way and placing them in front of Rebecca, "Hey! Lil, wait for me!"

He ran up to her, not noticing that she was getting angry. Lily turned around. "Why don't you just let her go out with you already? Stop playing hard to get, Potter. It's not working for her!"

"What are you talking about?" James asked, confused. "You of all people should know that of all the females in Hogwarts, Rebecca Ruppert is the last person I would date. What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"

"Nothing," Lily shrugged, "I'm just a bit stressed, that's all. So, any word on Durmstrang? Are they winning?"

James nodded, "The last time I checked, it was a close call. I think Beauxbaton won by 10 points, though. Both Ruppert and Delacour seem to be determined players, from what I've seen. I wonder why you haven't been watching the last Quidditch match."

Lily shook her head, "It wasn't that exciting. I'm there to watch our house play, not the other two. Besides, we've got enough eyes and ears that are keeping track of who's winning. And…I don't seem to want to fall off the Quidditch stands like the last time…"

"Yes, that was a bit heart-wrenching…I mean…" the Head Boy hit himself for almost blabbing out his secret.

Lily listened to him and turned around, frowning. "Heart-wrenching? Since when did you consider saving me heart-wrenching? I only fell from about 50 feet. And there were 6 other Quidditch players who could have gone to my aid, if you weren't able to."

"I got there quickly enough, didn't I?" James asked.

"Well, yeah," Lily admitted, "You went in and out faster than everyone else, that's what I know. Must have been the adrenaline rush, huh?"

The Head Boy shook his head. "Call it whatever you want, Lil, it doesn't matter."

Outside, the rest of the Marauders were huddled around James' invisible cloak, looking out at their two friends. Sirius was leaning a bit too forward to try to listen to their conversation. "Come on, Potter! Make your move already!"

Sarah was also in the same state, "Tell her…tell her…"

"Tell him…tell him…" Melanie chanted, also in a trance.

Remus and Peter were trying hard not to laugh, and they were the only ones who managed to stir the others out of people's way. Peter was watching James and Lily, but he grew a bit envious. He really liked Lily as well, but he knew that he didn't have a chance now. She's set her heart out on James Potter, and he's all she wants. Too bad Potter didn't know about that either.

James and Lily turned around, hearing whispers in the distance. James narrowed his eyes and pointed to the Marauders' direction. The cloak flew off of them and landed on James' hand. He growled. "Sirius! You stole my cloak! What are you guys doing here?! I thought you were practicing Quidditch?!"

"Um…that's a good question, James," Sirius said, laughing nervously, "Very good question if you ask me."

"Actually, we've gotta run, you know," Sarah explained, grabbing Sirius' arm and Melanie's, "We have…detention to work out right now! See you people later!"

Peter and Remus looked at each other, and quietly slinked away. Remus shook his head and remained quiet, but Lily managed to corner Peter and drag him to where she and James were. Her green eyes gleamed. "Okay, Wormtail, spill. What were you guys doing there?"

"It's a long story, Lily," he stammered, until seeing James' glare, and he gulped, "But let's make it short. We couldn't use the Quidditch grounds and so we decided to spy up on you, especially when Sirius found the invisible cloak lying around."

James sighed, exasperated, "Okay, that's understandable."

Peter nodded, then scurried away. Remus looked curiously at James, who noticed that his friend was staring at him. "Why are you looking at me for?"

"Aren't you going to tell her, Prongs?" Remus asked, grinning. "Or maybe I should…seeing that you're so hesitant…"

"Don't think about it," James replied hastily, gritting his teeth in a smile. "Or else there will really be death in this school for sure. And this time it won't be because a basilisk came and turned that person to stone, Remus."

Remus gulped and remained silent again. Lily then grabbed Remus' collar. "Okay, what is this big secret that nobody is willing to tell me? Hmm? Come on, Remus, you're one of my best friends! You can't keep everything a secret from me!"

"Honestly," her friend answered, "I can, Lil. It just takes a little work, and a strong will…in which I have both to face your temper, my dear."

Lily growled, her eyes turning bright green. She choked Remus, and James couldn't help but laugh, although still wary that Remus might spill the secrets of his heart. To give his friend credit, Remus was true to his word, and didn't tell Lily Evans. This made the Head Girl angry, but it was soon forgotten as talk of the last Quidditch match came their way. Even Lily was caught up in it.

The Marauders were huddled in a little corner in the Great Hall, trying to hide James Potter from the eyes of Rebecca Ruppert, and trying to device another plan to sneak into Hogsmeade. Melanie yawned, bored. "Oh, geeze. So, when is this match going to take place today, James? Maybe we could sneak into Hogsmeade with your new map and get some butterbeer for celebration?"

"What makes you think we're going to win?" James asked, raising his eyebrows.

The girl shrugged. "Hey, we're winning by about 30 points, Prongs. What's going to happen if someone catches the Snitch besides you? You'll still be able to win if you've scored enough points to beat them."

He didn't argue, and went back to what he was doing, which was watching Lily, who was reading a book. Remus and Sirius saw his gaze and grinned. Sirius winked at Remus and whistled. Remus came closer to James and nudged him forwards, making James stumble into Lily, and her book dropped. She glared up, seeing Potter. "James! Will you be careful? I was getting to the exciting part!"

The Head Boy gulped, "S…sorry, Lil. I slipped, right, Remus?"

Remus looked at him innocently, "What do you mean by that, Potter?"

"Urgh…" James said, disgusted, "Will you guys quit it?"

"Quit what?" Sirius asked, trying to put an innocent face, while winking at Lily at the same time. "We're not doing anything to bother you, are we?"

Melanie frowned, "Cut it out, Sirius. You're not helping. Lily isn't the only one studying."

Sarah looked at her cousin. "Studying? What for? The finals aren't here until two months from now!"

"We like to start early," Lily and Melanie said in unison, then smiled at each other.

The others groaned. James pulled out the Marauder's Map from his pocket and pointed his wand at the piece of parchment, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The girls crowded around the map, interested. Sarah scowled, "Aww…you guys are no fun. You didn't let us help you out with making that?"

"That's because we thought of it way before you did," Sirius answered, "And, when we did ask you if you wanted to be a part of it, you guys said that you didn't want to be a part of too much trouble."

"Hey!" Sarah cried out, "I never said such a thing! That time, I was in detention!"

Peter chuckled. "That's alright, Sarah. It's not as if it's going to be that important. I mean, who could be as bad as the Marauders? I must admit, if this map will actually fall into the hands of tricksters like us, then I will have to eat my fingers."

Lily pointed curiously at the dots on the map. "Hey, I see Snape on the map, and he's coming closer to us, isn't he?"

"Oh my goodness!" Remus exclaimed, and Sirius quickly stood up, covering the map with his back. James quickly muttered something under his breath and the map emptied up of its contents.

The Head Girl smiled up at Snape, who was scowling. "What is it, Severus?"

Snape looked suspiciously at James, as the Head Boy was stuffing something in Remus' pocket. "Professor McGonagall informed me that the Gryffindor Quidditch team is to assemble in the field. You better hurry, Potter, or else you might get disqualified. I would really hate it if Hogwarts lost. It will surely make my life a much better place to live in. At least we can gloat on how much a bunch of sissy Beauxbatons beat you."

Rolling his eyes, Sirius smiled coldly, "Yes, well, we'll make sure to give your compliments to your girlfriend, Rebecca. I'm sure she'd love hearing about you're wonderful praises of her. Now, if you will leave us…maybe you could be useful and tell Professor McGonagall that we will be there in a few minutes?"

"Not even if you paid me to, Black," Snape snapped, cruelly, "I'm not your messenger. Why don't you?"

Sighing, Melanie stood up, "I'll do it, for goodness' sakes. Don't bother, Severus, I'll go. You can do whatever you were doing before you were rudely interrupted."

Melanie walked out, and Snape went the other way, followed by Peter, who wanted to talk to him earnestly. Remus raised his eyebrows. "Since when have Peter and Snape been buddies?"

"Since you were found out?" Sirius asked, then changed the subject, "Come on, James, we gotta warm up before you go down there, eh?"

James took a deep breath, as he climbed up to the Gryffindor common room. Lily, Sirius, Remus, and Sarah followed him to his room. The Head Boy sat down, deep in thought. "Hey, do you think we'll win it?"

Sirius rubbed his friend's shoulders, "Hey, don't worry, man, we've got it already. I can see it now…Potter catches the Snitch! Making that the most triumphant event ever to have occurred in Hogwarts since Godric's time!"

Lily sat next to him, placing her head on the post at the front of the bed. Her green eyes were sparkling with thought, and she closed her eyes to think. No one spoke at that time, with Remus and Sarah reading different books of spells while Sirius was pacing around the room. Even James kept silent, watching his friends, and his eyes usually went from Lily to Sirius and then back to the Head Girl. Suddenly, to James' utter surprise, Lily's eyes flew open, and she stared at him, smiling.

"I've got it!" Lily cried out, jumping out and bumping her head on the post. "Ouch…"

James stood up, concerned, "You okay?"

Nodding, Lily massaged her head and started to pace the room as well. Sirius stopped since the Head Girl was taking the space. "Let's see…yes, why not?"

"Will you please tell us what you've come up with?" Sarah asked, cross, and holding the book titled Curses and Counter Curses. "It would really help if Remus and I weren't looking for certain useful spells to defend ourselves from the Beauxbaton's cheating…if they actually were…"

The Head Girl laughed, "You thought I was going to help you people? I must say, your practices were very rigorous, and I rather think you could pull it off without any of my help. What do I know about Quidditch anyway? I was thinking of getting us some butterbeer, that was all. We are going to celebrate, James, no matter what happens, so don't worry. Gryffindor Quidditch team definitely has my support."

Sirius collapsed on the bed, moaning. "You mean to tell me, you're not even going to try and help your best friend win? Not even one bit?"

Lily blushed, "He's not the best of friends with me, Sirius. No offense, James."

"None taken," James shrugged, relieved that at least she didn't think of him as only a best friend. "That's alright, Sirius, we can manage. Hey, we better head down there, it's been quite a long time since we were told to head on down to the Quidditch field. Wish us luck, you guys."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "You don't need luck, Prongs. Trust me, you don't need it."