Marauders Melody

James yawned as he sat up in his bed, stretching his arms above his head as the sunlight spilt into the dormitory. His hand automatically went to his hair as he stood up and stretched again.

"Hey, Sirius, get up," James said as he began to undress and put on his robes. When Sirius just turned his back to James and pulled the blanket over his head, James grabbed his wand and poked him hard in the back with it.

"I'm up, I'm up," Sirius mumbled as he slowly slunk out of bed and started to undress as well. "What classes do we have today?" he said sleepily.

"Uh.." James was halfway on pulling his shirt over his head, and his words were muffled as he said, "I think we have Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology and… Either Astronomy or Divination."

Sirius sighed heavily as he started to pull his pants on. "Only one good class."

James replied, "No good classes, more like it." He grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder as he looked back at Sirius. "Meet you in the Great Hall."

When James entered the Great Hall, his eyes immediately went to the Ravenclaw table, where he hoped he might catch a glimpse of Evans.

Sure enough, he spotted her. She was chatting with a few of her girl friends, and James had to almost force himself to keep his eyes on where he was going.

He reached the Gryffindor table and sat in between Remus and Peter.

"So how'd it go last night, Peter?" James said, almost laughing as he grabbed the plate of scrambled eggs and tipped some onto his plate.

"Terrible," Peter said miserably, looking down as he lazily dragged his fork across his plate. "Pomfrey found out that I was just faking, and McGonagall took off 20 points."

"I knew one of these days we'd get caught," Remus said, as he picked up a piece of bacon and took a bite.

"Five years of sneaking around and we only got caught once," James said proudly, taking a long swig of pumpkin juice. He put his cup down and added, "I'd say that's pretty good."

"Sure is," Sirius said cheerfully, as he sat down on the other side of the table opposite them. He grabbed his plate and began pouring a bit of every food onto it.

"Hi, Sirius," a pretty girl said shyly, who was sitting a few seats down the bench opposite him.

"'Morning, beautiful," Sirius grinned. The girl blushed crimson as she went into giggles with her girl friends, all of whom were gazing at him with adoring looks.

James laughed as Remus shook his head, but he still gave a small chuckle. Sirius watched the girls for a moment as he stuck a piece of ham into his mouth. The one who had said hi to him was Amber Edgecombe, a gorgeous girl with long, hazel-brown hair that spilled down her back, and tempting cobalt-blue eyes.

"Almost time for class," Remus said, checking his watch. He swung his leg off of the bench and got up, grabbing his books. Peter quickly followed him, scrambling off the bench with little grace.

"See you in Herbology," James said, as Remus waved and left with Peter on his heels.

James let his eyes savour the look of Evans' pretty face before turning back to Sirius.

"What class do we have first?" Sirius asked.

"Divination, I think."

"We better start heading up to the Tower then," Sirius said, as he got up, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He shook his hair out of his face, which was one of his habits, and the girls gave a soft gasp when he did. Sirius looked surprised for a moment, but soon regained his composure and grinned one of his famous grins at Amber before him and James started to make their way down the Great Hall.

"She wants me," Sirius said simply, as they started their way up the stairs. James sniggered.

"You mean, all of the girls want you," James retorted.

"Yeah, even Evans," Sirius smirked. James raised his eyebrows at him. "You know, that glare and the stalking-off thing, it could just be her way of showing me that she wants me. She's so obviously waiting to say to me…" Sirius put on a girlish voice, "Oh Sirius, you bad boy, you're so much hotter than your ass of a friend, that James loser. Now come and give me a good spanking, you naughtttty boy."

James couldn't help but chuckle as he punched Sirius playfully on the arm. They rounded the corner and climbed another set of stairs before they reached the ladder leading to the Divination room.

"I wonder how I'm going to die today," James said, as he grabbed the ladder and started to climb. "Will Remus eat me or will Snivellus poison me.. What do you think, Sirius?"

"Well.." Sirius paused and then grinned. "I think… That today Evans is going to smack you right across the face." And that's just what she did.

It was after Herbology class that everything happened. Sirius and James were busy flying around the empty Quidditch pitch, James chasing the Snitch, Sirius practicing his goal-scoring with the Quaffle. Peter and Remus sat on the stands, Peter's mouth hanging open in amazement as he watched the incredible speed of James on his broom, and Remus was busy reading a thick book.

"Hey, pass that over here!" James called to Sirius. Sirius shook his hair out of his eyes before throwing the Quaffle over to James, who caught it and then flew at an alarming speed to the goalpost and threw the Quaffle as hard as he could from a very far distance. When he scored, Peter let out a loud gasp and clapped.

"Nice one," Sirius called, as James threw the Quaffle back at him and he caught it. James then went back to chasing the Snitch.

Sirius was busy rolling the Quaffle in his hands and looking around the grounds, his broom suspended in the air, when he suddenly grinned as his eyes landed on a certain person. "Hey, James, look who's here."

Severus Snape was walking unconsciously down the grounds, his nose pressed into a book, the cover reading, "Dark Arts for the Skilled Mind."

James looked down from where he was watching the Snitch just inches above his head. "Excellent," James grinned, as he grabbed the Snitch in mid-air, shoved the struggling ball into his pocket and then pointed his broom downwards as him and Sirius went down to Snape.

"Snivellus, I never expected you here," James sneered, as him and Sirius landed in front of Snape. They both dropped their brooms on the ground as Snape stopped walking and looked up from his book. His greasy hair shined in the dawning sun as his eyes narrowed at the sight of James and Sirius.

"Just praying to be hexed, aren't you?" he said coldly. Sirius and James roared with laughter, as Remus and Peter walked up to them.

"Hex us?" James laughed, pulling out his wand as James did. "I'd like to see you try, Snivellus."

Snape quickly pulled out his wand, but before he knew it, both James and Sirius were yelling, "Accio Wand!"

Instantly, Snape's wand flew out of his hand and into James' open palm, but Snape still stood his ground calmly, hatred burning in his eyes.

"Unarmed, I see?" Sirius chortled. "Gonna hex us now, Snivellus?"

"No, but I can do something else," Snape said quietly.

Before James could react, Snape brought his fist to Sirius' face. With a small cry from Peter, Sirius went to the ground in heap. He sat up and blood was tricking down his face. He clutched his nose, which was now already covered in blood.

"You're dead!!" James yelled, as he punched Snape back in the face as hard as he could, sending Snape flying to the ground. James bent down and grabbed the front of Snape's robes with one hand, pulled him up violently to his feet and hit him hard again. Now blood was pouring out of cut on Snape's cheek.

"You'll regret the day you ever touched him!" James growled, but Snape was too quick for him when he kicked James' knee, and his leg buckled and he fell to the ground.

James was scrambling back up just as Snape lifted his leg to kick him.

Sirius came pummelling back into the fight, his fist hurtling to Snape's face. Snape staggered back, and James tackled Snape, both of them tumbling to the ground.

Fists from both of the fighters flew as they rolled around the ground, swearing at each other and throwing punches like mad. Sirius felt blood dripping down his nose and he wiped it away with the back of his sleeve, his eyes on James and Snape on the ground. He yelled, "Kick his ass, James!" Remus was shaking his head, his hand over his face as Peter watched with wide eyes.

Suddenly Snape and James pushed themselves to their feet and stood up, both breathing heavily. James had a deep cut just above his eye, and several more cuts along his cheeks. Snape was getting a black eye as he wiped blood from his own cheek with a finger.

Before Snape could do anything, James grabbed Snape again by the scuff and put his face close up to his. "If I EVER see you punch my friend again," he snarled, "I'll murder you."

Snape grinned at the words. "I could care less about the words coming out of a your mouth." James swung his arm back to punch Snape again, but suddenly a voice yelled, "LEAVE HIM THE HELL ALONE, POTTER!"

James let his arm fall as he continued to clutch the front of Snape's robes tightly. He looked over Snape's shoulder and saw Lily Evans, who had pure fury painted on her face.

"This little snit hit Sirius," James said, but Lily didn't seem to hear.

"You're always picking fights with him," Lily said coldly. Her eyes trailed along the blood on James and Snape's face, but she didn't seem to notice. "Why don't you just leave him alone?"

"Because he's a filthy little bastard, that's why," Sirius growled.

"You're the bastards," Lily snapped back. She then turned to James again. "Let go of him, or I'll go right up to your Head of House and tell her about all of this."

James' face scrunched up as he pictured the thought of McGonagall kicking him off the Quidditch Team for fighting. Reluctantly, James let go of Snape's robes, violently pushing him away in disgust as he said warningly, "Remember what I said, Snivellus. This won't happen again."

Snape sneered and was about to open his mouth, but abruptly Lily was walking up to James, and before he knew it, she had smacked him so hard in the face that he could see stars in his eyes.

"Asshole!" she shrieked, turning on her heel and storming off. Snape smirked as he picked up his book and started back up to the castle.

".. Now that.." Remus said, amusement in his voice, "..Was interesting."

James stared after Lily with his mouth hanging open.