Summary: 7th year is supposed to be the most fun, but its absolute hell for Lily. It gets harder when Lily falls into a depression that no one can get her out of but James. It's another love/hate romance but it's believable and hopefully unique. r/r

Pink Pearls

By Scarlette

Prologue

"My name is Lillian Evans but please call me Lily," I said shyly to the boy within the compartment on the giant red engine.

"I'm Remus Lupin," the boy responded in a quiet voice. He was just as shy as I was. He looked from me to the seat in front of his. I quickly accepted his subtle invitation to join him. I was very much relieved that I had not been kicked out by this Remus kid.

A few awkward moments came and went until Remus cleared his throat and asked politely, "You are a first year, right, Lilly?" To hear his quiet voice say my name was startling. It took me a moment to get used to the idea before I answered his question, "Yes, I'm afraid." I was trying to lighten the mood and surprisingly it worked. A small smile appeared on his young face, "So am I…"

That was how I met the lovable Remus "Moony" Lupin, the more intelligent of the Marauders. He had been the first person I had spoken to on my way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, my new home and life.

While deep in conversation comparing muggle affairs and wizard news, the compartment door slid open startling Remus and me. There were two boys grinning from ear to ear at us. Without an invitation the taller of the two took a seat next to me, while his friend sat down next to Remus.

"I'm Sirius Black and this is James Potter," the boy next to me said as his hand reached into the pocket of his slacks looking for something. "I'm Remus and this is Lily," Remus spared me the trouble of speaking, for you see I was dreadfully nervous at that point. Black just nodded at us and smiled when he produced a box of jellybeans. He opened it and offered me a jellybean.

Shyly I accepted but quickly became disappointed when I saw it was yellow. From past experiences I figured it was either banana or pineapple flavor. Yuck, banana and pineapple were the worst flavors in the world in my opinion, but I didn't want to be rude so I popped the bean into my mouth. Remus had made a move to stop me but it was too late. Let's just say that I wished that bean had been pineapple. It was the most horrid taste in the world, and even now I have no idea what flavor it was.

When the laughter died down, my face was still very red. It became very obvious that I was the only Muggle-born in that compartment and I was really embarrassed. This day would haunt me the rest of my life, I thought bitterly. I folded my arms over my chest and sunk into my seat wishing I had never got on the stupid train.

"I'm really sorry, but I couldn't resist myself," I heard the Sirius kid say. I guess he thought I was angry because I was so deadly quiet. I turned to look at him, my eyes where narrow with apprehension. He just smiled and dumped a few jellybeans onto his hand and he began to dump them back one by one. He picked up a red one and examined closely with his eye, then he put it back into the box. He picked up a second red jellybean and again he examined it. He smiled in approval and placed the little bean into my empty hand. Again I glared at him, but he smiled at me encouragingly. Slowly I popped the wizard candy into my mouth, closing my eyes expecting the worse. The tangy, sweet taste of strawberry filled my mouth and I smiled. I opened my eyes and looked over at the grinning Sirius Black to my left.

That was the first of hundreds of pranks that Sirius "Padfoot" Black would pull on me. Though, at first I thought him very conceited and annoying, I eventually grew to like him somewhat. That day, Sirius taught me my first lesson about the wizarding world: Nothing is what it seems.

After an hour, the boys were deep in conversation about the latest broom, Quidditch, and other things I did not understand yet. Remus had quickly warmed up to James and Sirius and they got along very well. I remained quiet for the most part, and after a while I fell asleep.

I was woken up again when the train's engine made an odd noise. I looked around and saw Remus fast asleep with his head resting on the window. Sirius was also asleep and his mouth hung open just a tad. He looked funny and I smiled as I stretched my arms and legs a bit. I looked up at James Potter who was not asleep but looking at his hands. His green eyes looked heavy with boredom behind his glasses.

The weight of my eyes must have been pretty heavy because he looked up. I quickly looked away, afraid he'd think I was starring. I felt my cheeks burn in embarrassment. One of my hands reached to the pink pearl necklace that wound around my neck three times and still managed to hang loosely in layers. My fingers began to fiddle with the last layer of pearls. It was a habit I had for when I was terribly nervous.

That wouldn't be the last time James "Prongs" Potter would play havoc on my nerves. Out of all the Marauders he was the one who would test my patience the most, the one that would challenge everything about me. I'll admit that at first I was partial to Remus and Sirius and had a silent hate for Potter but all that would change with time.

There came a small knock at the compartment door and James invited whoever it was to come in. A short, thick boy entered with his head bent down and his hands shaking at his side. In a very small and shaky voice he asked if it would be okay if he joined us. James scooted over nearer to Remus to give the boy room. Remus and Sirius began to stir awake. When they came to there eyes were set on the new kid.

"Hi, my name is Peter Pettigrew."

Peter "Wormtail" Pettigrew became the fourth of the Marauders. Out of the all the Marauders he was the odd ball and was constantly struggling to keep up with the others. He was also the one I least spoke to outside class.

The Marauders quickly became my only friends. Remus naturally became my best friend and confident. He is the one I turn to for help in school, and the one I spill all my secrets to. Sirius is the one who encourages me to have a bit of fun every now and then and he is the one who manages to calm me down during a stress attack. Peter is the one who we all are constantly looking after. When I have time I'll help him with homework and make small talk with him when the rest of his friends are not around. James… well, he's just James…

A/N: okay… this is my comeback after leaving fanfiction. Please, R/R! I know this is just the prologue and there's not much yet, but at least give me ideas… or tell me if this idea is worth pursuing…Also, this is the only chapter that will be in Lily's POV. The rest will be third person and there will be a lot of input from the other characters. Snape will also come into the picture too grins…

Thanks Scarlette

Disclaimer: All of the characters, places, names, and such are from the wonderful imagination of the great J.K. Rowling. The only thing I own is the plot… and the title (I'm pretty proud of my title for this).