You guys simply amaze me. I really don't have a good enough way to express my gratitude to you all for reading and reviewing. I think Adam knows this story better than I do, as much as I've talked about it and gushed to him about my readers. You all give light to my inspiration, and I really truly want to thank every one of you for that.  *a huggle out to all of you*

Side note: Kineta is Greek for 'active one' (hence her athletic persona) and I made her out to be Dorcas Meddows' little sister, a JKR character who was an Order member.

Also, I'd like to say this and get it out now before you all start bashing on it. LoL. Now, I'm no more a Peter lover than anyone else; he was a traitor, weak, and lacked self respect and missed a few morals, BUT he was a Marauder. He was a trusted friend to James, Sirius and Remus at a time. Therefore- I will have him in my story with a story of his own, just like the rest of the Marauders. I know a lot of people tend to just leave him out or just use him on occasion, but I plan on giving him a big role. Otherwise, you won't be crying at the end. ;)

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                                             Chapter Six   October-1976

                                       

"Merlin, James, can you work the team any harder?" Greta teased as the Gryffindor Quidditch team tiredly dragged their feet into the Common room.

James- hot, tired and sweaty- collapsed onto a couch near his friends, "We only have a couple weeks till we play Slytherin." He ran a hand through his messy hair and put his head back.

Sirius, squeezing into a spot next to Calista, groaned, "That's the only reason I'm killing myself for you, Prongs. Any other team and I'd long hit you with a bludger."

Kineta, seeming to be the only member of the team with energy still, laughed as she sat next to James, "Sirius, it'll be well worth all this pain."

"You guys have been practicing everyday for a week," Greta mentioned. "Are you going to be able to keep this up for the next two weeks?"

Two of the chasers chimed a yes, while the other said no. James squared his look towards Sirius who stuck his tongue out. The others all laughed, knowing that as much as Sirius complained, he enjoyed every moment out on the pitch just as much as James did.

"Can't we at least take a break on Halloween, Captain?" Sirius whined.

"Nope," James answered. "Everyone else will so we'll have the pitch to ourselves."

Remus smiled, "We're sure to get the Cup this year, otherwise Prongs will throw himself off a cliff, I do believe."

James curved his lips into a slight smile at that, "Bet your damned arse we'll get that Cup. I'm going to go shower before dinner."

James left the Common room and made his way to the dorms. He was grabbing some clean clothes from his dresser when he noticed Peter lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"What's wrong, Wormtail?"

Peter slowly glanced over at James and shrugged, "Nothing. Just thinking, I guess."

James chuckled to himself; it was never an easy thing when Peter would start to think. The tired Quidditch captain sat at the end of his bed and faced Peter. "What are you thinking?"

"Well…" Peter started, unsure of just exactly what to say. "Is your mum going to be okay, James?"

James sighed, "She'll never be herself again, but she'll be alright. She's recovering…"

Peter nodded, "So how does a person go on living with guilt?"

James gave Peter a strange look, "What do you mean? Did you do something you feel guilty about, Pete?"

"No. But think about all the pranks we pull. Have you ever stopped to think that maybe we have hurt people's feelings? And what about Pandora? She's one of the meanest people I know, but I'm still friends with her. She doesn't seem to stop and think about the things she says or does."

James nodded, thinking of the right thing to say, "Well…most all of our pranks are harmless, Pete. None of us would ever consider harming anyone. I mean, maybe we've hurt some people's feelings, but nothing too extreme. Everyone knows us and that we mean no harm. Pandora's…just, well, she's just the type of person that doesn't stop and think about others all that much. It doesn't make her a bad person- it just shows that she's obviously got issues she needs to deal with. My mom," James took a deep breath. "I'm not sure that guilt is the right word. Maybe it is. She wasn't acting on her own accord; the spells made her do it. It wasn't her fault that she fell to those spells."

Peter sat up, "How do you think Voldemort sleeps at night?"

James chortled, "I don't think he does. He has no conscious; he can't, to do what he does. Something's wrong with him to make him believe that what he does or what he orders done is okay. That's what makes him evil, Pete. Why all the questions?"

"Too much time on my own, I guess," Peter smiled shyly at James. "I know you and Padfoot have a lot to do with practicing and all. And Moony's always busy with Prefect stuff." Peter shrugged. "It's left me with a lot of time on my own."

James nodded, feeling bad, "Look, Pete, this weekend it'll be us. We'll sneak out to Hogsmeade or something, have some fun. We need to finish up that map too."

This made Peter smile, "That sounds great."

"Good," James stood up. "I'm going to go shower. I'll see you at dinner."

"Alright…hey James," Peter called after him as he headed into the bathroom.

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to tell you that you're a really great friend," Peter said quietly, almost embarrassed at his declaration.

James smiled, "You're a great friend, too, Wormtail. Now do me a favor and go pester someone downstairs."

Peter laughed and bounded out of the boys' dormitory. He found the other sixth years in the same spots as James had left them. Kineta had left to go shower herself and find her own friends.

"Pete! Where've you been hiding?" Sirius exclaimed.

"If I told you, then it wouldn't be a hiding spot anymore. How was practice? Prongs looked pretty tired," Peter sat down in a chair.

Sirius groaned again, "No more Quidditch talk. I refuse to be a part of it. On to better discussions; who is going to lend me their potions essay?"

Greta laughed and threw a pillow at him, "Do it yourself, you lazy arse!"

Sirius offered his best puppy dog look, something of which he was very good at, "Aw, come on, give a guy a break."

Calista rolled her eyes, "Why don't you go shower and clean up, and just maybe I'll help you out after dinner."

"Homework on a Friday night?" Sirius looked horrified. "Are you kidding with me?"

She winked at him as she stood, "You asked and I offered."

"Where you going, Cal?" Greta asked.

"I'm going to go find Dora. I'll see you all at dinner," Calista waved everyone off and headed for the portrait hole; not with out one last flirty look towards Sirius.

As soon as the portrait had closed, Sirius, for the third time since returning from practice groaned. "She's killing me. And it's a slow and bitter death."

Remus laughed, "Not responding the way you expected, Padfoot?"

Sirius sighed and sat up straight, "She's just playing games, that's all. And it's a game that I always win. I'm going to go bug Jamesy-poo, now. See you at dinner."

"More information than we needed to know, Black!" Isadora yelled after him, as those on the couches laughed and moaned.

"Those boys," Greta shook her head. "I'm going to take my books back up to the dorm. I'll see you all in a bit at dinner."

Remus swore that Greta winked at Isadora before she headed up her own flight of stairs. Remus and Isadora were sitting on the same couch; which now held no other occupants. Peter sighed.

"What's up, Pete?" Remus looked to his friend.

"Where are Lily and Audrey?" Peter asked, glancing around the Common room, but not seeing them.

Isadora shrugged, "Library probably. Where else would they be?"

"Haven't the lot of you made up yet? It's been weeks since you all had your argument."

"And are you suggesting that I be the one to smooth things over? I meant every word I said to her, Reme. I hope that she's taken these weeks of being excluded from us to think about what I said to her."

"So you've been purposely excluding her and Audrey?" Remus raised his eyebrows at her, shocked that Isadora would be that way.

Isadora sighed, "Well…yeah. Merlin, thanks Remus. Now I feel guilty."

Peter softly chuckled as he stood from the chair, "I'm going to go for a walk. See you at dinner."

Remus smiled at Isadora, "You'd only feel guilty if you feel that you've done something wrong."

"Well, isn't purposely ignoring a friend and making her feel bad wrong?"

Remus shrugged with a knowing look, "So why don't you two talk?"

"She doesn't want to talk to me," Isadora stretched her legs out in front of her, placing her feet onto Remus' lap. She kept talking, not noticing her actions. But they were most definitely noticed by someone else. "I said some pretty harsh things to her…and the sad part is that I think I meant them. How do we get past that?"

Remus swallowed, as he looked at the curly-haired blond, "Um…well, I guess you two just need to talk it out."

Isadora sighed, "Yeah, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to get past some of it. It really bothers me how she's such a nice person, yet refuses to open her eyes to everything."

"That's just Lily, Izzy. Can you tell me that you're perfect?"

"I think we just proved that I wasn't, didn't we?" Isadora smirked. "Okay, I'll try and talk to her…later."

Remus looked at her with a quizzical expression, "And what are you going to do in the meantime?"

"Eat," Isadora winked, standing from the couch. She stretched while Remus let out a silent breath of relief before standing. "Come on, I'm starving."

Isadora grabbed Remus by the hand and pulled him along with her toward the Great Hall. Butterflies rushed up from his stomach to his throat as her fingers intertwined with his.

                    *       *       *       *       *       *

"Padfoot…" James and Peter approached Sirius at a table in the far corner of the Common Room with Calista later that evening. "You aren't…really doing homework on a Friday night, are you?"

Sirius glanced up from his books and parchment, "Hold that thought; let me finish this one part."

James and Peter exchanged a worried look.

"Does he have a temperature?" Peter asked.

"He does look a little green," James noted.

"Of course the blue dots all over his face would explain a lot," Peter added.


Sirius finally looked up, horrified at the thought of dots all over him.

James and Peter broke into laughter.

Sirius gave them an annoyed look, "Not right now, mates. We have all day tomorrow."

James shrugged and looked at Calista, "What'd you do with Sirius?" The boys didn't let her respond; they continued their way around the common room.

Their next stop was at a couch near a window where Lily and Audrey were both reading. James took it upon himself to plop down in-between the two and put an arm around Lily's shoulder.

"Remove your limb from my neck, Potter, if you value having it," Lily seethed through gritted teeth.

"Aw, come on Evans, it's a Friday night, let out your wild side and have a little fun," James winked at her.

Lily reached up and pushed his arm away from her, "Thank you, but I am having fun. Until you decided to bother me, that is."

"Can I ask you a question, Evans?" James looked at her, momentarily serious. He admired the way her hair was falling around her face, the annoyance that glimmered in her emerald eyes, and how she had a look of irritation around her pursed lips.

Lily looked at him, "What?"

"Why is it that you hate me so much? I mean, I've heard the rumors, but go on, break my heart in two right now," James dared her.

Lily sighed and rolled her eyes, "Explaining it to you is such a waste of my breath, Potter. Trust me, it wouldn't break you heart, it'd go straight to you head."

"Ah, but Lily, you break my heart every time you ignore me," James pouted.

Audrey, sitting on the other side of James, chuckled. She swapped him on the arm, "Potter, leave us alone. Don't you have anything better to do on a Friday night than let Lily toy with your ego?"

James cast his famous smirk accompanied with a wink towards the two as he rose, "I couldn't think of anything better to do on any night than be around Evans. Don't count me out from the race, yet."

Lily looked at Audrey after watching James and Peter head towards the fireplace where a bunch of fifth year girls were sitting around.

"What race? And why won't he just give up?" Lily sighed.

Audrey laughed, "Face it, Lily; the boy is in love with you."

Audrey went back to her reading, not noticing the stare that Lily was giving her. A few moments passed until Audrey finally looked back up to her. She smiled, "What?"

"What did you just say?" Lily looked at her with almost an expression of horror.

"Oh, come on! Why else would he be so persistent with you all these years even after all the redundant rejections you give him?"

"I'd hardly say love would be the reason," Lily coughed. "Try he just finds pleasure in annoying me."

"Lils, he can have any girl he wants in Hogwarts. Have you ever seen the man in a serious relationship?"

"No! And that's because he can have any girl he wants. In Potter's mind, why have one when you can have it all?"

"But he can't have it all," Audrey winked.

"And that is precisely why he bothers me, not because he's in 'love' with me as you so dramatically put it," Lily rolled her eyes. "Besides, I have my own priorities."

Audrey was about to let the last statement go, thinking Lily meant her school work as usual, but then she noticed the glint in Lily's eyes. "Wait a second. You have a crush on someone?"

Lily slightly blushed, "No, I didn't say that…"

"Oh, come on! I'm your best friend, you have to tell me! Who is it? Okay, first what house is he in? Ours? No…Ravenclaw! Lily!" Audrey had thrown her book down in her lap and had full focus on Lily now.

Lily giggled, "Audrey, shh. It's…it's nothing. Look, I want to get this paper done tonight. That way we have tomorrow to relax, so let me work on it."

"Oh no, you are not getting off this easily, Lily Evans," Audrey eyed her.

Lily smiled, "Go back to your book."

"I can't," Audrey sighed. "All this talk about love has me vanquished from a happy mood now."

Lily raised her eyebrows, "First, that was an awful big word for you to use, second, no one is talking about love, and third, why are you so suddenly down?"

Audrey rolled her eyes as she sat back further into the couch, "It wasn't that big of word. I've heard you use it. And the lack of any prospective love life is what has me down." Audrey pointed to the table being inhabited by Sirius and Catalina.

Lily sighed, "Audrey, why bother even having a crush on a Marauder? They're nothing but trouble causing wankers."

"You don't seem to think that about Remus. Aren't you two…hmm…rather good friends, should we say?"

Audrey noticed the slight blush that Lily tried to hide, "No. Remus isn't as…harsh as the other three. He's got a brain in that thick skull of his."

"So the fact that Izzy is sitting over there wrapped up in his lap doesn't bother you in the slightest?" Audrey quizzed her.

Lily looked across the Common room to see that Isadora was in fact curled up quite cozily with Remus. They were sharing an armchair, talking near the fire. James, Peter and the group of fifth girls were sitting around the floor near them.

Lily swallowed, "Of course not. Why would it?"

Audrey watched Lily stare at the two; the obvious attracting sparking near the fire wasn't putting a smile on the red heads face.

"He's who you have a crush on, isn't it?" Audrey guessed.

"No," Lily replied too quickly for Audrey. "Drop it."

Audrey watched Lily pick up her quill and begin working again. The Marauders are going to be the death of us, Audrey thought to herself as she sighed and picked up her book again.

                    *     *     *     *     *

"And then just as she was jumping in the water, we charmed it to turn green! It was so disgusting looking!" Isadora was telling Remus a funny childhood story. Remus was fully enjoying his evening; just talking with her.

They had walked to the Great Hall together; the first of the sixth year Gryffindors to show. They sat and talked with others in their house while they ate. When the others started to arrive, they joined the conversations; nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Except for the fact that Isadora was sitting very closely to Remus the whole time; silently flirting with her eyes.

After dinner, Isadora accompanied the Marauders for a trip out to the grounds. James and Sirius entertained by picking on Severus Snape, as usual. The other three Marauders never seemed to think it was strange that Isadora was hanging on Remus' every word.

When the sun began it's decent, Calista had found Sirius and offered to help on his Potions essay again. Isadora decided she was getting chilly and asked Remus if he wanted to go back to the Common Room for a game of Snaps.

The game of Snaps had been long forgotten.

"Green?" Remus laughed. "I'm surprised you don't get in on the pranks Prongs and Padfoot come up with."

Isadora laughed, "It was just my crazy cousin. I have a close family and we usually spend summers together. Okay, so tell me, what's with the nicknames?"

Remus glanced at James and Peter on the floor, neither paying Remus any attention. They were too busy flirting with the fifth year girls.

"They just…came about. Inside jokes, you know," Remus shrugged.

Isadora smiled as she curled her feet across Remus' lap, "Mmhm. Prongs, Padfoot, Wormtail, and…Moony."

"That's us," Remus smiled nervously. Why was Isadora suddenly becoming so good at making him wince with nervousness?

"I'd take a guess with your nickname being Moony that you're into the night sky and all. I'm surprised then that you didn't know what my name meant." She was staring right into his eyes.

"Oh, well, yeah, it's interesting and all. I, uh, don't know much about- what'd you say your name is? Greek? Yeah."

Isadora laughed, "You're adorable when you get nervous, Remus."

He gave her a shocked look, "Why…what would make you say I'm nervous?"

She only winked at him, "How's James holding up? Is his mum okay?"

Remus nodded, "He's…James. She's alright, not the same, but he's handling it."

Isadora shuttered, "That whole dark lord stuff just creeps me out. Can I ask you something?"

"What?" Remus looked at her. Sharing one armchair, they were pretty tight sitting together. Isadora leaned the side of her head against the back of the chair; putting her face close to Remus'. He could feel her soft breath on his cheek as she looked at him apprehensively.

"You never talk about your mum."

Remus shrugged, "There's nothing to talk about. She left me when I was a boy."

Isadora nodded, "Do you miss her?"

"Sometimes. I don't remember much about her really. I don't really want to remember."

"You don't have to talk about it," Isadora told him, concern written in her eyes as she touched her fingers to his cheek.

They looked at one another. Neither of them sure of what to say, what to do next, they simply gazed into each other's eyes. Remus searching for answers- why did she suddenly care so much? Isadora searching for emotions; wanting desperately to find what his hazel eyes kept secret.

"Oy, Moony-! Black to Lupin, do you copy?"

Sirius broke the connection between the two as Remus looked to up. Sirius, James and Peter were all standing just near the fire to the side of the chair. James wasn't paying much attention, still talking to the girls. Peter was staring, his mouth parted open in that way it did when he was awed. Sirius, on the other hand, stood with a smile, gaping at the scene.

"Not that I wanted to stop the ever-romantic interludes going on, but are you coming or not?" Sirius asked, still with a smile.

Remus glared at him, silently cursing him for interrupting, "Go where?"

"To work! It's the perfect time," Sirius exclaimed in a voice sounding as if Remus should have known that.

Isadora smiled, "Go on. I'm sure you four have business to attend to." She looked at Remus as she started to climb off of him and the chair. "I'll see you later." She stood, winked at Sirius and Peter, and walked towards Calista and Greta.

"Thanks, Padfoot," Remus sighed, watching Isadora join her friends.

Sirius shrugged, acting as if he did no wrong, "Come on, first to the kitchens to grab some food. It's going to be a long night. Prongs! You got the cloak?"

James snapped to attention, bidding Kineta and her friends' farewell and joined the other three, "Check. Let's go."

"Why are we doing this now?" Remus moaned again, glancing back towards Isadora who was watching the Marauders walk out of the portrait hole.

"Because we're almost done, and what better way to finish it and test it than at night breaking all the rules?" Sirius gleamed with satisfaction.

James let Sirius and Peter take the lead towards the statue that led to the kitchens while he fell back with Remus.

"So?"

"What?" Remus looked at his friend.

"What? Moony, you've been 'talking' with Izzy all night! What's going on?" James smiled.

Remus actually felt him self blushing, making him that much more embarrassed. He glanced at James with a shrug, "I was starting to think…"

"Do it, Moony, just do it. The worst that will happen is a broken heart, and shit, mate, that wouldn't be any more depressing than waking up the morning after alone anyways," James told him seriously. "Maybe she's special."

Remus nodded as the boys made their way down the stairs leading to the kitchen. Every now and then, he thought, Prongs makes good sense.

                    *     *     *     *     *

The girls were giggling madly on the couch; talking of the boys that they were attempting to tie around their fingers.

"Okay, but you got Sirius Black to do homework on a Friday night, Cal," Greta laughed. "I think that's a sure sign he is int-er-est-ed."

Calista smiled, "Oh, how I do enjoy playing games."

Isadora smirked, "No games required. I'll be back, you guys." Isadora rose from her seat and took a deep breath as she flattened out her skirt. She ignored the curious glances from her two friends and headed towards a couch near a window in the back of the Common Room.

Lily was too into her paper to notice the impending visitor. Audrey, however, getting bored with just sitting there, noticed her approach out of the corner of her eyes. She looked up and saw Isadora coming with a straight face. She nudged Lily in the side with her elbow and nodded her head towards Isadora.

"What's she want?" Lily suddenly felt nervous. She felt a confrontation coming on again.

"Lils, Aud…um…can we talk?" Isadora stood in front of them. She stood, a bit nervous her self, twitching her fingers together.

Lily and Audrey glanced at one another but put their papers and books down respectively. Lily nodded for Isadora to pull up a chair from a nearby table.

Isadora sat down and took another deep breath. She looked at the two and sighed. "Okay…umm, I realize that some of the things I said to you, Lily, were harsh. And I'm not going to sweeten all this up and just tell you that I'm sorry…because I did mean most everything I said. But I could have been nicer about it. And I could have approached you two sooner rather than…ignoring you and all."

Lily just stared at her so-called friend, not sure what to say. Audrey interjected.

"So why now?"

"I was talking to Remus about it…I guess you did too, Lils, since he knew about it…and he made me realize how…bitchy I've been being. You guys, we've been friends for six years now…I don't want to just end our friendship."

"Do we have one?" Lily looked at Isadora sternly. "I mean, the way you talked we never did."

Isadora fluttered her eye shut for a moment and looked right into Lily's emerald ones, "I deserved that. Okay. I didn't mean everything I said. And for that, I'm sorry."

Lily nodded, "It's not like things are just going to be like they were, you know."

"I'm not expecting that…but, we can at least…start over again, right?"

Audrey looked at Lily with an expression reading she'd kill her if Lily said no. Audrey loved Lily like a sister—which meant that even they got tired of each other's company at times.

Lily smiled and nodded, "Of course. I miss you guys."

Isadora broke out into a smile as well, "Oh, good!" She turned to the other two, who were watching every motion the three were making, and waved them over. Greta and Calista slowly joined them.

"We've declared a truce," Isadora nodded happily. "Neither of us is admitting guilt, apologies or hurtfulness…just a truce and starting over."

Greta smiled, "Goody! Lily, that charms essay, have you started it?"

Lily laughed. Charms was quite possibly the easiest of her magical studies, and Greta was one who excelled at it. The two always enjoyed working together when it came to that class. "Yeah, it's just that silly transfiguration one I'm having problems with."

Audrey moaned, "That one's easy, Lils, just suck up to McGonagall and you'll be fine. DADA is my problem."

"Surprisingly, Sirius was very quick at picking up Potions this evening," Calista rolled her eyes. "I think he's just faking it."

Isadora, Greta and Lily laughed. Audrey just smiled, jealous that Calista was able to get so close to the Marauder.

"You know, Aud, Remus is really pretty good in DADA. We were talking about that class earlier. I'm sure if you asked, he'd be willing to help you with it," Isadora offered.

Audrey glanced at Lily; still sure that she had a crush on him. Sure enough, Audrey noticed that Lily's smile seemed to fade a bit- she had the same look Audrey did when Calista mentioned Sirius.

Unfortunately the fading smile didn't go unnoticed by the other three either. Greta looked at Lily, concerned.

"Lily? What's wrong?"

Lily shook her head, "Nothing. I'm going to go up to the dorm and grab some more books. I'll be back."

Lily ran up the stairs without a look back. The other three looked to Audrey for an explanation.

Audrey shrugged, "Honestly, I think she may have a bit of a crush on Mr. Lupin, but she won't admit it to me."

Isadora's cheerfulness suddenly faded. She looked to Greta and sighed. "So now I've done it. I finally, thanks to Remus, get a slap in my face to talk to her only to…hurt her feelings with out even knowing it. I didn't know."

Calista shrugged, "It's not like she's told anyone. How would you have known?"

Greta nodded, "Besides, you started to have a crush on Remus at the end of last year."

"But I never told her." Isadora looked at Audrey. "What do I do? I think…I think he might like me back."

Audrey smiled for her friend, "Then go for it. Lily's always got Potter to fall back on."

The girls laughed, Greta almost going into tears, "Yeah, like that'll ever happen."

Audrey shrugged, "Stranger things have happened." And I'll make sure even stranger ones do.

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