Disclaimer- None of it's mine really. Everything belongs to the great and wonderful J.K.
A/N- Okay, here it is. I'm not real sure what you guys are going to think...it's kind of one of those chapters where nothing really happens. But please do read it and review, I need the advice, and you guys help me so much! Thank you thank you thank you for all of you who reviewed, it feels so good to know someone is reading my work. Well here goes!
Days passed by slowly, and a sleepy tone filled the halls of Hogwarts. There wasn't much to talk about during these days, and students were searching hopelessly for new news, something to break the dreamlike stupor that engulfed their school. Some looked to the famed Marauders to wake everybody up, while others were convinced that this dazed state was caused by none other than the famous four themselves. To them, when the Marauders spirit died, so did everyone else's. And this was simply not acceptable to Lily Evans.
"Sirius Black!" Lily stormed into the Gryffindor Common Room, her friend Meg trailing behind her.
A silence ensued over all the Gryffindor students. Never had they seen Lily Evans so riled up.
"You rang?" Sirius Black, a well-known and well-respected seventh year sat, sprawled out on the couch. He idly tossed a muggle baseball into the air only to catch in on its way down. Lily, flustered somewhat by his calm demeanor and the attention of the whole common room, felt a small blush creep up her cheeks.
"Err- you all can go back to whatever it was you were doing. Sorry about that, didn't mean to interrupt you." Lily apologized to the kids around her. There wasn't much response from them, however. "Go on! This is between Sirius and I." A shuffle of noise could be heard, and the noise level started to build back up again.
Sirius smiled sweetly. "Nice, Lily, real suave."
"Oh Sirius! Look at you!" Lily exclaimed, plopping down on the couch next to him. Sirius sent her a funny look before glancing down at his appearance. He didn't know quite what she was getting at. He, like everyone else in the room, was wearing his black Hogwarts robes with the customary Gryffindor tie. Granted, his socks might not be a matching pair and he wasn't quite positive that his underwear was clean, but he was still totally oblivious to the point Lily was trying to make.
"Err... Lil, if this is some twisted way to get me to go out on a date with you this Saturday, I hate to tell you but I'm already going with Molly Pantra." He paused for a moment, grinning at Lily before adding another bit. "I do hear that James is free, so if you're interested, or even if you're not, I don't think he'd mind going out with you." Sirius went back to tossing his baseball up and down. "Might even get him out of this slump he's got us all in lately," he muttered quietly, so that Lily couldn't catch exactly what he said.
"Sirius! For God's sake I don't want a date!" However, despite all her efforts to look composed, a small blush crept up her cheeks. Sirius opened his mouth, no doubt to come up with another witty remark, but Lily stopped him.
"Okay, focus with me for a minute here Sirius. I do, as sad as this is to say, need your help. You are one of the most troubled kids I know, and you haven't even talked back to a teacher in days! I saw Peter taking notes in transfiguration the other day, and not once in almost a week have I seen you sneak out at night. You're actually doing your homework, believe it or not, and I even watched James walk past Snape without so much as a glare! Now I want answers Sirius Black," Lily said, her intense green eyes staring him down. "I want answers this minute. What the hell is wrong with you guys?"
"Ah nothings wrong Lily. Nothing at all. We're actually experimenting with this new idea of ours. James thought of it a while back. I think it has something to do with us being good for a while, you know, be mature and all. It's going rather nicely, don't you think?"
"Nicely!" Lily huffed, sinking back into the couch in defeat. "If that's what you want to call it, go right ahead. I know I miss the old Marauders. On my way to potions yesterday Snape called me a 'mudblood', with Professor Qualey standing right there and all! Of course, our dear potions professor didn't say a thing about the insult, but when I evil eyed him before walking away he took five points off for my bad attitude!"
The smile on Sirius' face disappeared, and he sat up a little straighter.
"Those damn Slytherins. They're filthy, every one of them. Especially the ones I'm related to. Tell you what, Lils, I think it's about time this school had a little more fun. What do you say we make sure dear old Snivellus earns himself a bed in the infirmary for the next week?"
Lily grinned at him. "As head girl, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that at all. However," she added, "I expect not to see him in class tomorrow."
Sirius playfully tugged a strand of her hair. "Anything for you Lily." He winked, and she laughed a bit.
"You know Lils, you're going to have to tell James that you miss his bad- ass, trouble-making, wild and rebellious self. Otherwise, this place might just stay the way it is forever."
Lily could have sworn Sirius almost sang that last comment. He was way too happy for her likening, and that stupid grin of his was planted on his face.
"I suppose a note will do then." She grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill from her bag and scribbled something down. She folded the parchment and handed it to Sirius.
"You can't avoid him forever you know. You're head students together! You share a bloody awesome head common room with him, at least tell him yourself." Sirius said, but from the look on Lily's face she was not going to change her mind. He grabbed the note.
"Thank you Sirius. It was good talking to you. I'll see you around."
"Yea...see you around. And Lily, give James a chance. Just one chance, please?"
"We'll see Sirius. We'll see." Lily smiled and left Gryffindor Tower, perhaps to visit a certain room designed for the head students that she hadn't seen all year. She had always thought it was James who needed to change, but maybe, just maybe, she needed to do a little changing too.
Sirius had just watched Lily leave through the portrait hole. He was still amazed at James' affect on the entire school. His decision to grow up for Lily seemed to leave everyone at a loss. It's crazy, he thought, how the spirit of a few people could mean so much to the spirit of others. He looked down at the note in his hand, and unfolded it to read. As he read the few words neatly written across the parchment he couldn't help but grin.
James,
I want my Marauders back.
Lily
Lily found herself spending the night on a couch in the head's room. It was late, and the sky was already scattered with stars. She didn't fancy trekking back to the Gryffindor Tower and having to explain to Filch why she was roaming the halls that late at night. Despite many of the perks that came along with being a head student, roaming the corridors with no purpose was not one of them.
Looking around the room she was in, she decided that it was gorgeous. The decorations were scarlet and gold, just like Gryffindor. She presumed it changed year to year, depending what houses the head students were in. It was obvious James had spent some time there, as there were definite signs of a boy's presence. Quidditch magazines were strewn across the coffee table, along with a few chocolate frogs and cockroach clusters. To her surprise, she even found outlines for the Christmas time decorations that were to go up around the school. So he is doing work, she thought, and she made a mental note to thank him the next time she talked to him. Whenever that would be, Lily added.
She picked up a heavy book that was sitting on the table, amidst all of James' things. Hogwarts; A History she read, and with a small finger traced the letters across the front. Before she could open to the first page, however, the door to the room opened.
Startled, Lily nearly dropped the book she was holding. She couldn't see the face of the boy who entered, but she had a pretty good idea of who it was. After all, only two students in the school new the password to get in.
"James?" She called out, wondering why he was here.
"Lily?" James looked genuinely surprised to see her there. "Err-what are you doing here?" He set a book and some used parchment on the table and pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and threw those down too.
"I came spend the night here. I thought I'd might as well use this room, seeing as it is part mine. I didn't know you came here at all." Lily said, taking in his casual appearance. His hair, like always, was tousled, and instead of wearing his Hogwarts robes he had on gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt.
"Yeah, I spend a lot of nights here, mostly to get some time alone," James said, his eyes twinkling. "Not to mention to get away from Peter's snoring." He sent her a grin before plopping down in the armchair.
"I'm sorry," Lily managed to say quietly, her heart pounding. For some reason she was absolutely terrified that he would hate her for what she said a week or so ago in the Great Hall.
"Ah, it's nothing to be sorry for. It's my own fault I didn't buy myself some earplugs in Hogsmeade like the rest of the boys in our dormitory. I sure have paid the price for that mistake."
It took Lily a moment to realize he was talking about Peter, and until she did she just stared at him in disbelief.
"I wasn't talking about that James," she replied softly, her heart still beating strongly against her ribcage. A look of understanding came over James' face, and he only shook his head.
"Oh, that. You don't need to apologize, you did nothing wrong." When Lily didn't say anything back, James prodded her a little further. "I got your note," he grinned. "And I think that that can be arranged."
At this, Lily's whole face lit up. She let out a laugh, looking so relieved. To James' surprise, Lily jumped up and hugged him tightly.
"So are we friends no? No longer sworn enemies or anything like that?" James said, a smile tugging at his lips.
"Yeah," Lily replied. "Friends sounds good."
A/N- Please, don't forget to review!!!
