Author's Note: Well, it's been a few years since I've written anything here, but for some reason unbeknownst to myself, I'm back! Hopefully I can spit out a chapter a day until I head back to school next week. Just to let you know, some of this information isn't factual to the books so if anything comes up as a little off, you don't have to say anything about it. I know it's not perfect! The main thing I'm concerned with is the story, although I try to look back to the books in my free time, which is dwindling as I prepare myself for another semester. So enjoy, and as always, review!

Disclaimer: I own none of the Harry Potter characters or places. This all comes from the brilliant mind of JK Rowling.

"From you I withdrew and I'm sorry

I live with this slowly.

I swear that I knew you well…

The words I left out

were the ones that I felt."

-Rustic Overtones

"Slowly"

Chapter One: Slowly

"Oh for the sake of Merlin Mr. Potter! Do we have to go through this every time you take an exam?!" Professor Minerva McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry exclaimed as she leaned over James Potter's school desk and looked the young wizard in the face.

"Well, I don't know any Merlin personally…I believe he was a few years before my time, or his supposed sake that everyone keeps raving about, but yes, Professor, this is totally necessary." And before she could say another word: "And by the way, that is quite a lovely hat you're wearing today. One might say that the color brings out the fire in your eyes."

For only the first time in the day, Professor McGonagall's lips moved into what was either a smile or a grimace, James couldn't tell because her lips were pursed together and rather thin. "Why thank you Mr. Potter for your fashion assessment but for once in your lifetime can you not bring your broomstick to class?!"

There was an eruption of laughter coming from the sixth year Transfiguration class that echoed off the walls of this Hogwarts classroom. It had started in James's second year when he made the Gryffindor House Quidditch team and had accidentally brought it to class before his first practice of the season. Coincidentally, that same day, was the first exam of the semester in Professor McGonagall's second year Transfiguration class and (by coincidence or not) he had received the highest marks on that test. So now it was not uncommon to see James walking down the hallway, broomstick in hand to every Transfiguration test he had. "And I've never failed one test. If memory serves correctly, Professor, I've always had full marks…and," before she could protest any further, "Gryffindor has never lost the cup since I brought my broomstick to class."

"Well, if you believe in that type of superstition, be my guest, Mr. Potter…"

"I would love to Profess-"

"After class, Potter." This shut everybody up, even the never speechless James Potter. "Now begin! I will not be giving extra time to finish the test so if there are any problems, then any of you are more than welcome to take it up with your Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, Mr. Potter." And with a turn of her heel, Minerva McGonagall walked to the front of the classroom where she stood before her large desk with parchment and quill in hand, ready to read directions.

"Oh she's got you now, Mr. I-have-to-be-difficult. She better not suspend you from today's game. I've got a bet going on with Cyrano Oberlin from Ravenclaw that we're going to win and-"

"Peter, I have repeatedly told you three things: 1)Never call me Mr. I-have-to-blah-blah-something or other. Prongs or James will do just fine thanks and 2)Gryffindor has never lost to Ravenclaw as long as I have been captain and they never will."

Peter Pettigrew, a longtime friend of James, fourth member of The Marauders and fellow Animagus laughed under his breath, trying to keep it quiet enough so the Professor wouldn't hear him. "So, what's the third thing?"

"What are you talking about, Wormtail?"

"Well," Peter said, picking up the brick they were supposed to be transfiguring into a flower and looking at it quizzically, as if it was unlike anything he had ever seen before, "You listed two things you tell me repeatedly…what's the third?"

James looked around the room before spotting a quite pretty blonde from Hufflepuff, and catching her eyes, winked. The girl averted her eyes, blushing quite profusely until she slowly turned his way again and smiled. "The third thing I have told you repeatedly is that," he said, turning back to his friend, "James Potter always gets the girl."

"POTTER!" Came a yell from the front of the room and James quickly went about to the task of completing his test.

S L O W L Y

"And furthermore, Mr. Potter…" She had really given it to him this time. Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor and soon-to-be Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts (the current, Professor Neplonein was retiring this year) really had fire in her eyes, and it wasn't the hat that brought it about. She had taken away ten points from Gryffindor already and swore on her Masters Edition of Transfiguration that she would give him a detention if he continued to be "cheeky" in class. "But," she continued. "In spite of all this…you received top marks on your exam. Those are some of the…most vivid flowers I have seen in some time."

"Thanks, Professor," he said, smiling and began walking towards the door.

"Well, one hopes that you will do just as well in your end of the year exams next week. And one more thing, Potter." He turned around, hoping that she didn't change her mind about detention. He couldn't stand another day of cleaning the paintings near the moving staircases. They always complained, except for the Fat Lady who seemed to like his scrubbing a little too much. "Do win the match today against Ravenclaw."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Grasping his broom tightly he left the room, only to be stopped by someone tugging at the back of his robes as soon as he turned a sharp left, heading towards the Quidditch Pitch.

"You know, James," came the most familiar voice. A smile slowly crept onto his face as he turned around. "Only you could make Professor McGonagall ream you out and not give you a detention. Even though one of these days she's going to develop a nasty crush on you and then…"

And then…and then there was a slight move of James's hand and suddenly she could only see white, with a touch of red. "Lily flowers for you… Lily Evans."

"Oh James," is all she could say. For as long as either one of them could remember, they had been each other's best friend; since their first meeting in The Great Hall at their first day at Hogwarts to the present. Lily put up with his cockiness and his constant bad habits and he persisted through her famous temper and constant sarcasm. But no matter, they knew each other better than anyone else…even sometimes their selves. "Although these are rather beautiful-"

"It's alright Lily, you don't have to thank me-"

"I wasn't going to thank you, James."

"You weren't?" One thing that Lily and James had in common was their perpetual need for excitement. They could be bored easily and they found out quickly that their attraction and bond kept them on their toes.

"No, James. You may be in the running for Head Boy of next year but someone had to help you through Muggle Herbology because this is not a lily."

"It's not?"

"No," Lily said exasperated. "This is an orchid. A Dusky Maiden to be exact." For the second time today, James was speechless. "Yes, you're wrong. Bound to happen one of these days."

"Really? And all along I thought I was James Potter: God of the Universe." This got a smile out of her and before long she started laughing which only caused him to laugh as well.

"Well Mr. God-of-the-Universe, you better get to that Quidditch Pitch soon. I'm pretty sure the rest of the Gryffindor team would be ecstatic if you missed the final game of the season. It's almost quarter of."

"Bugger! I'm missing warm-ups!" He gave Lily a quick wink before flashing her a smile as he ran off. "Don't miss my game!"

"Not even for the world!" She yelled back. Lily stood outside the Transfiguration room, ignoring the death-glares from all the other girls around her. It was common knowledge that their relationship was strictly platonic but that information would not stop every girl from wanting to be in Lily Evan's shoes. She watched as he ran around the corner, saying something inaudible as he disappeared, but suddenly the bouquet of white orchids melted away and in their place was a single, quite large lily flower. Her smile faded as she touched the silky-smooth petals. The pure white color was almost blinding, like an angel's robes and the green underneath, the stem, was as green as a tropical rainforest. "I can't believe it," she whispered to herself, even though she could. James was always finding ways to amaze her.

Lily turned around, totally engrossed in the flower when she ran right into…

"Remus!"

"A lily for Lily. I suppose that's from James." Remus said, smiling…very peculiar-like, like he knew this was going to happen and became bored of it.

"What is it, Remus?" She said, crossing her arms and glared at him (mockingly of course).

"Whatever do you mean?" He said, putting one arm around and guiding her towards the spectator entrance of the Pitch. It was routine for him to meet her after the last class before a Quidditch match. James always had to be there early and Sirius extra early as he was commentator, so Remus and Lily always sat together in the Gryffindor box and cheered for James and laughed at Sirius, such the jokester.

"Oh stop that My-name-is-Remus-and-I'm-soooo-innocent act! Every time you refer to James and I when it's just you and me together…you always have this quality about you…that you know something that we don't."

"Glorious weather for Quidditch today, wouldn't you agree, love?" He said, sliding his arm from around her shoulder to offering it to Lily. She took it, but a little reluctantly as she wanted to know certain information.

"Remus! I want to know that something!"

Remus scoffed and just rolled his eyes. "Lily darling, I love you like a sister, I really do, you know that, but honestly! You can be so naïve at times…"

"I am not!" She said, and slapped his chest playfully, her mouth dropping to the extent her jaw would let it. "How do you base that decision?!"

"Oh, Lily, isn't it obvious?" Remus said as they started their walk across the grounds, the Gryffindor Quidditch tower in sight. After she didn't make a move to prove that it was anything other than obvious, Remus rolled his eyes and just handed it to her on a silver platter: "The poor bastard's in love with you."

"Oh don't be silly, Remus," Lily laughed. "If James Potter is in love with me then I'm the Queen of England." And to this, Remus jumped in front of her and made this huge gesture of bowing to her. A few second year Hufflepuffs stared at them. "Stop that!" She said, grabbing his arm and making him stand up, to which he laughed.

"Anything Her Majesty wishes. I proclaim my allegiance to the thrown," he said with a smile and a gleam in his eye.

"What a mood you're in today! Why are you so happy?" Remus just smiled and looked away as they sat in their front row seats. Lily followed his line of sight until she came across a pretty Ravenclaw by the name of… "Rosalyn Hartwell! You finally asked her?!"

"Yeah, thanks to you." Lily watched as they waved to each other. Rosalyn had mid-length black hair that she usually kept in two braids that were held up in the back; an enthusiastic girl that was known to be nice to most everyone, just like Remus. "She's really something."

"Well, if anyone deserves happiness, it's you, Remus." Just last year, Lily found out that Remus Lupin was somewhat of an anomaly, or a werewolf to be exact. Even though the rest of the Marauders trained gruelingly night and day to become Anamagi so when Remus transformed during the full moon, they could be with him at the Shrieking Shack. Since Sirius, James and Peter weren't in their human form, Remus, in his werewolf state, never harmed them. In fact, they kept him company. Remus had always had the knowledge of who he was in the back of his mind and that's where he preferred to keep it most times.

"I never told you this, Lily but…Rosalyn knows." He didn't need to go any further, she understood what he was referring to. Lily didn't say anything as she let Remus continue. "I needed to send an owl to my cousin in Australia and I knew that the regular Hogwarts owls couldn't make it so I asked if I could borrow her barn owl. She agreed and it's a long story but…she read the letter. I doubt it was by accident and it's really my fault anyways but…she never questioned it. She wasn't even…she never judged me, Lily. Not once. That's when I knew."

Lily smiled and squeezed Remus's hand. "That's wonderful."

"Yeah, I thought so," he said, rubbing Lily's hand and then letting it go. "Anyways, the game is about to begin. Do you think Sirius can go one game without bashing the non-Gryffindor team?"

"Of course he can," and to this Remus was shocked. "Then again, I apparently am the Queen of England so I suppose anything's possible…"

"If you don't want to see what's right in front of you-"

"What's right in front of me is my boyfriend of two years, Lance LeRoux." And not only was Lance LeRoux Lily Evan's boyfriend, he was the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team and was almost as popular as James. Almost. He had long dirty blonde hair that he normally tied back, even though some of it ended up around his face and he always sported a black hoop earring in one ear.

Remus looked out onto the pitch and saw the two teams lining up with Lance and James about to shake hands. "So the two of you are back together I take it."

"We never really split up in the first place," Lily said assuredly, although Remus detected just a hint of doubt.

"Then he wasn't eyeing Yancy Merwin the other day. Must have been another tall guy with one earring by the name of Lance LeRoux."

"That's simply not true, Remus. I know The Marauders are all best friends and you all try to protect each other and whatnot but…"

"You're one of us too, Lily and-"

"Thanks, Remus. But honestly…me and James…it's stupid! He's my best friend. You don't date your best friend and if you're going to lie about my boyfriend-"

"Speak of the devil…"

Flying up to the Gryffindor box was a bold move, even for Lance LeRoux. He was in enemy territory. "Hey you. Wish me good luck before I…no offense…squash your team."

"Well, good luck but…no offense…James is going to beat your ass."

"He'll only beat my ass if the bludger doesn't beat his first…" And the rest was mumbled under his breath. Remus looked as if he could kill and before Lily had to play moderator in an all out war between the two, she kissed Lance quickly.

"Now, now Lily Evans," came the loudest voice in all the school and right now, the whole Quidditch Pitch; it was none other than Sirius Black. "Stop fraternizing with the enemy. We don't want any Benedict Arnolds. And if you're going to kiss anyone, make it someone from Hufflepuff. At least they can play Quidditch without acting like a bunch of pri…Professor! I was going to say prats! Honestly, now! What do you take me for?! A foul-mouthed rogue commentator?! I think not!" Sirius said, quite innocently and dramatically. Most of the audience was laughing, even some of the Slytherins who normally hated Gryffindor.

As soon as Lily wasn't looking, Lance made an inappropriate gesture to Sirius before flying back to an irate-looking Professor Aristol, who obviously didn't care for Lance's act of chivalry. The whistle was blown and the game began.

Remus was still laughing at Sirius's commentary, however, when Lily crossed her arms angrily. "For once I wish you would all…and by that I mean you and The Maruaders, would just stop acting like a bunch of first years and just be nice to him. He's not a bad guy."

"Yeah, Lily. And Quidditch is just a sport." He started to laugh once more but after looking at Lily, who he realized liked Quidditch well enough, but she probably didn't have Puddlemere United posters over her dormitory walls, stopped his chuckling. "Look, you like him, that's all well and good but after what happened last year…"

"You were trying to jinx him behind his back! He was right for taking away those house points."

"Lily, he cost us the House Cup!"

"No, Remus, you and those mischief makers cost Gryffindor the House Cup and furthermore…" But Remus wasn't paying any attention to her. He was staring out onto the Quidditch Pitch where James had made a spectacular escape from a bludger. James began flying around, waving his arms in glory, when from out of nowhere, another bludger came flying at James.

"Watch it mate!" came Sirius's warning, but not before it hit James's right arm and almost knocked him off his broom. Lily had stopped rambling off to Remus only moments before it happened. Her hands had flown right to her mouth when it did and she watched intently as James steadied himself and looked around for the culprit…and when he spotted him, laughing with his teammates, James went flying straight for Lance.

"Rip him a new assho…Professor! That was on purpose, that bludger was!"

James and Lance were in the middle of some words, when Lance threw a punch at him. James quickly answered back with a few of his own and before long, the other Ravenclaw beater, Johnny St. Claire, began beating up on James as well. Within a few minutes, all of the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor team were in an all out war.

"What does he think he's doing?! That stupid prat!" Lily was yelling, but it was in vain, because everyone around her was yelling, and her own voice was easily drowned in the noise. Sirius's voice, however, was heard quite clearly: "Well, you're not going to get all the fun!" And Remus looked over to see Sirius attempting to climb his own broomstick to help James while Professor McGonagall had taken away his microphone and thrown it into the pitch, then began tugging at Sirius's robes to keep him from creating more of a disaster.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor Mr. Black! And I'll take away fifty more! I'm warning you! MR. BLACK!" Sirius had just flown away on his broom, which really wasn't necessary, since the fight had landed on the ground. Most people stayed in the stands to watch but a few Ravenclaws had retreated from the boxes.

"This is mad, Remus!" But as soon as Lily had turned to talk to him, she found him gone. Her eyes made a dash to the pitch and sure enough, she saw him running across it, towards James and Sirius. Even Peter was there, although he was dodging defensively more than he was fighting. "Oh those stupid boys!" Lily said, yet again, to herself and strode down to where the action was and started to pull people apart with a rage unlike herself, straining to get to James and Lance.

"Get out of my way Leopold before I stun you!" Lily had yelled. "All of you stop this nonsense before I bewitch you this side of the moon! Don't say that Remus! I'm a goddamn prefect and I'll do whatever the hell I want!" At this, some of the people had stopped fighting and gaped at her. Lily hardly swore, and the fire behind her eyes sent Peter scurrying away. She strode up to the two idiots in the center and watched them for a mere second. By now, Professor McGonagall, a little disheveled after her fight with Sirius, had calmed most people down and began sending the Ravenclaws off to their head of house and told the Gryffindors to go back to the common room and wait for further instruction.

Remus had stayed behind with Sirius to watch Lily. The looks on their faces showed that they were either a) amazed b) frightened or c) too hurt to move, although it was probably a combination of all three. They intently followed Lily as she strode up to Lance and pushed him aside. "Idiot!" She yelled as he fell onto the ground. The two Marauders on the sidelines grabbed each other's arms.

"If she dumps the stupid git, I don't care if McGonagall takes a hundred points from Gryffindor!" Sirius said, obviously excited. He sounded like a child in Honeydukes with a pick of the place.

"She must, I've never seen her so furious before. It's hard to tell which is redder, her hair or her face," Remus agreed, also smiling. "I'm sure James will be…"

"And YOU!" Lily screamed, rounding about to the last boy standing, blood running down his forehead. "You egotistical coward!"

"Lily!" James said in astonishment. "He's the fucking coward!" Professor McGonagall was either too stunned to take away points for language or was watching intently with the others as Lily reamed James out.

"What do you know about chivalry, James?" Lily said, lowering her voice. She was clearly on the verge of tears. "You think every girl is a prize. You think you can just give them a flower and then they'll just bend over backwards for what…you? James Potter?"

James took a few steps forward. Sirius and Remus couldn't believe that his eyes were just about as dark as hers, just about as sad. They had never had a row before, and even though she always thought he was self-centered, she would never tell him. James never cried, he never would go this far. But of course, it was Lily, after all. "Lily…you don't mean that." He took her hand in his and held it tight, like it contained his whole world in her skin. "I am ten times the man LeRoux will ever be. And you know that."

SLAP!

James stumbled back a few steps, his hand that once held Lily's now holding his own face where a bright red handprint now was. "Lily I-"

"Stop it, Potter." Even Sirius flinched at the use of his surname. "I know nothing of you…you're not a man. Just a scared…little…boy. Just a boy." And with that said, Lily took the flower from her robes and threw it at James. She gave one look at Lance before he nodded and followed her away from the pitch.

As Lily passed Professor McGonagall, she stopped her. "Evans, I'll need to talk to you in the common room, with the other Gryffindors. Your-"

"I know, Professor." The Transfiguration teacher, looking like a much older fifty-seven than she was now, simply nodded her head. "Thank you." And in just a few moments, Lily had left the pitch with her boyfriend trodding behind and made off to Hogwarts.

S L O L Y

Once all the Gryffindor Qudditch team plus what was left of the Marauders had gathered in the common room, there seemed to be quite a difference in the change of atmosphere. Well, at least for James. Most everyone but the infamous Marauders were talking violently about what had just happened and some of them were even thinking about overriding McGonagall and going straight to Albus Dumbledore, although everyone knew that was just wishful thinking.

In the corner, with blood still dripping down his face and onto his Quidditch robes, sat James Potter. Sirius was next to him at the table, not saying anything either while Remus sat on the floor, mixing up a thick concoction of yellow goop.

"Prongs," Sirius finally said quietly. "She didn't mean it. Any of it."

"Thanks Padfoot but she did. And it serves me right." James looked at his best friend since the brawl. "I am a coward."

"Take it back." Remus looked up at Sirius, who, for the first time, seemed to be mad at James. "James, you are the bravest person I know."

"Reckless is more like it."

"No, no…that would be me. You're the logical one and I'm the dreamer."

"Actually Padfoot," Remus said, adding a green herb to the mix. "I'm the logical one, you're the dreamer and James, although reckless at times, is the unsung hero."

"Unsung hero?" Sirius said. "Thank Merlin…I know what Prongs sounds like in the shower. Let's keep it unsung."

James cracked a smile but it was gone in an instant.

"James, if you wear your heart on your sleeve, you're bound to get crushed." Sirius looked quickly to Remus, seemingly a little unsure of himself before looking back to James. "Lily has a boyfriend."

James raised his eyes to Sirius. "So." He said, threateningly. It was a statement, not a question. He didn't want Padfoot to continue, but he knew he would.

"I'm just saying that…that maybe you should…uh…stop."

"Will you stop speaking in Troll and tell me what the hell you're saying?"

Remus stepped forward as translator. "What Padfoot is failing to say is that, we don't want you to get hurt. Maybe you should just drop the whole Lily thing."

"What Lily thing?" James said, on the verge of yelling again.

"Well if you love the girl, knocking her current boyfriend to oblivion might not be the way to win her over," Sirius said, finally able to speak his mind. Remus was waiting for the recoil, but Sirius sat there, determined.

"Oh…that Lily thing. Uh…right." James took the soaked yellow bandage that Remus had offered him. "Thanks Moony." He put it to his cut and he felt the pain melt away. He wanted to swallow the rest of it. "Look…I know you're trying to lift my spirits but you can't help who you…care for," James said, dodging the word 'love' rather uncharacteristically uncouth for James. He rarely used the word, and when he did, it was an absolute truth. He wasn't sure if he loved her…what if it was all just a dream he made up? "She's my best friend…outside of the Marauders of course, Wormtail," he told Peter as he joined in on the conversation.

"Then what are you going to do?" Wormtail asked unsurely.

James searched the floor, perhaps hoping that the rug would burst open and divulge all the plans he needed to get Lily out of limbo and back again. After a few minutes (the rug lay still), he looked to his friends. "I don't know."

"I'm disappointed in you, Prongs," Remus said, standing up next to Peter. "Obviously this girl has you by the balls because you're not even sane enough to formulate a plan." Peter sniggered while Remus continued. "Honestly now…tisk, tisk."

"Well now, Moony," Sirius said, rising from his chair and clapping his hand on Remus's shoulder and giving him a mock sympathy look. "We can't be so harsh on young Mr. Potter, after all he just had his heart trampled on."

"By no less than a hundred ravaging wolves."

"True, Wormtail," Sirius said, smiling at Peter's rare wit. "Maybe we ought to-"

"I think I'll try talking to her," James said, standing up and looking at Sirius. Padfoot stared at him.

"Are you mad?"

"She'll kill you."

"You can't change her."

"Perhaps not, Lupin." Everyone turned to the doorway where Professor McGonagall was standing. The Gryffindors subconsciously walked together to form a not so straight line, like they were receiving sentences for Azkaban. "But your business is not with Lily Evans, it is with me. I am ashamed that my house, that is to say, the House of Gryffindor, would act with such idiocy. Twenty points from Gryffindor from everyone who participated in today's wonderful act of sportsmanship."

"But Professor! That's…" Sirius did a quick count of the heads. "That's one hundred and eighty points!"

"Well now that we know that Black can at least count, I'm going to take away another ten points because of you Black, awarded for your genius commentary and recklessness towards a teacher-"

"Professor!-"

"AND another thirty points from Gryffindor because of Ms. Evans and her-"

"But Professor McGonagall!" James had spoken instead of Sirius this time and he stepped forward so she couldn't pretend that he just wasn't there. "Why thirty? Lily was just trying to stop the rest of us!"

"As honest as her cause may be, she still took physical act against you Potter, as you can clearly recall if you just look in the mirror, and she did it in front of a teacher no less!"

"Oh come on, Professor," Sirius said, also stepping forward. James was very thankful for this. "We do stuff in front of you all the time and we only get twenty points!"

A few fellow Gryffindors laughed at this, but the look on McGonagall's face silenced them almost immediately. "Well that may be true but you, unlike Ms. Evans, are not a prefect! But not anymore. Her privileges have been stripped and her badge has been revoked. Lupin!" Remus looked up and almost didn't catch the metal object that was not tossed, but thrown at him. "I hereby bestow upon you the responsibilities of a Gryffindor prefect, if you can handle it." Professor McGonagall looked at her students in front of her, all looking somewhat ashamed before saying, "And Mr. Lupin, if you don't straighten these imbeciles out, I swear I'll find a way to turn back time and make sure the Sorting Hat places you in Hufflepuff!"

As she turned towards the door, a rather hesitant James said quite clearly, "What about the game, Professor?"

She snapped back so quickly it almost made the Gryffindor's heads spin. "If you are referring to that lousy piece of playing out there you call Quidditch, then it has been rescheduled for next Saturday, after the final exams. And if you aren't the best bloody chaser out there, Potter, I'll remove you from the Gryffindor team!" With that said, and her anger indulged, Professor McGonagall didn't give either of her house members another look before she left the common room, magically slamming the door behind her to which the painting on the other side did not appreciate.

Peter turned to the guys, looking for one of them to say something, so he thought he'd break the silence. "Moony…you're a prefect. Congrat-"

"Shutup Wormtail."

"Sure…R-Remus."