This is my first story originally posted on Death-Curse.

A/N: This takes place in the Marauder's era from their fifth year until the year after grad.

Both Sides of Life

Chapter two: The Ravens

The first full moon was fast approaching and the Marauders were excitedly working on their plan to become Animagi.
"So are we going to try tonight?" Sirius whispered to the group during their Defense against the Dark Arts class.
Remus looked around to check if Professor Cadabra was looking. "Yeah, but we have to be careful. I'm a Prefect if we get caught ..."
James cut him off "We are not going to get caught. You worry too much Moony, lighten up a bit."
He leaned conspiritorly over to Sirius and Peter "OK, let's meet in the Room of Requirement after curfew tonight. We can work on it, then hopefully we'll be ready for October's full moon." Remus shook his head. His friends were going to get themselves and him in big trouble one day. He looked up at Isobel sitting with her friends; once again he shook his head. 'I really am as bad as James is with Lily. Jeeze what's gotten into me? She'd never go out with me. I'm a werewolf! What kind of girl would date that!' Remus thought miserably returning his focus to class. Across the room in the center of the 5th year Ravenclaws sat Isobel beside Titania, Medea, Ursula and Undine, flicking a glance at Remus across the room talking with his friends. 'He's certainly a cutie, he is. Nope can't think about that!' she sighed and returned to their note on Unforgivable curses.
'Blah, blah, blah he just keeps going on and on!' Isobel heard in her mind. Most people would have jumped at this but she was use to it now. 'Titania, you shouldn't do this in class.'
she heard her friend respond. 'Awww, but if I didn't I wouldn't have happened upon you thinking about a certain werewolf. Sooo, does that mean you like him?'
Isobel glared at her. 'Keep out of my head! I told you to give at least that privacy please!' Titania rolled her eyes. Isobel huffed and continued to scribble down the note.

Around 9 o'clock that night after James returned from Quidditch practice, the boys got ready to sneak out. Peter ran over to James the moment he came in "Are we going now?"
James motioned for him to calm down." Calm down Wormtail. Everyone will hear you." He checked around, then leaned in close to the group "Now this is the plan. We each go up to our dorm, one at a time except for Wormtail." he turned to Peter. "You're going to wait to open the door for us OK?" Sirius and Peter were grinning wildly.
Sirius laid back on the couch and yawned loudly. "I think I'm going to head upstairs." he made a big show of heading upstairs. Five minutes later Remus packed up his books and headed up too. James looked around waiting to go up. Frank Longbottom sat in the corner with some of the other 5th year boys. Adrian LeFae for once wasn't talking strategy with the team but rather sitting with his other group of friends, laughing loudly at some joke. Lily and her friends sat giggling by the fire. When the other girls walk off to bed a few second later James got up and sat next to her. "Hey Evans. How you doing?"
She turned and glared at him" Why are you here Potter? Don't you have some fan girl to primp for?" she shot back.
James placed up his arms in surrender." I just came to talk, don't have to bite my head off!"
Lily blushed slightly and turned away. "What do you want to talk about? How about how you hex anyone in your way in the halls? Or how you continually ruffle your hair so it looks like you just step off your broomstick? Or how you constantly pick on Snape? Are any of them what you wanted to talk about, 'cause I'm not interested otherwise."
James gaped for a moment then regaining his composure, he ran his hand through his hair. "No, Lily actually I came to ask if you'd go with me to Hogsmeade, like on a date."
Lily turned to him "I WOULD NEVER GO OUT WITH YOU POTTER! NOT EVEN IF YOU WERE THE LAST MAN ALIVE!" she stomped off to her dorm. James just sat there flabbergasted by Lily's whole outburst. Everyone in Gryffindor Tower was staring at him. He got up and without a word headed upstairs. Sirius and Remus were waiting for him.
Sirius was smiled at James "Well have a nice conversation with the lovely Miss Evans?" Even Remus was laughing.
James blushed "You heard?" the two boys nodded laughing silently. "I think everyone heard her Prongs." Sirius grinned. Remus sighed "Let's just get your cloak and go."

Down in the Room of Requirement the four Marauders tried to finish the Animagi transformation (well James, Sirius and Peter did , Remus helped.)
"OK according to the book, you're suppose to focus on the transformation." Remus looked back up at his friends who were in various states of transformation. "Let's try it again." he sighed and helped the others return Wormtail to his original state. They continued to work on the transformations for another hour and a half. They were getting closer, there was only a little human remaining every time they tried.
"Let's head back up. I've got homework to do." James said collapsing on the ground. The four boys slipped back down the corridors under the cloak. They were almost at the Fat Lady's portrait, when that heard voices echoing down the hall. "Shhh, if you don't keep quiet we'll get caught by Filch for sure." giggles followed this admonishment. All four boys froze under the cloak.
Around the corner came some of The Ravens with Titania in the lead. All of them were in their stocking feet. Isobel looked around nervously. "Can we just hurry up and do this. Preferably before we get caught."
Titania rolled her eyes. "We won't get caught. All the good little boys and girls are all safely tuck away in their dorms." she smiled and crept down the hall once more.
Sirius looked at James and mouthed "What are they doing?" James shrugged back.
The girls crept down the hall pass Gryffindor Tower to the History of Magic classroom.
"Man, Eden is so going to freak when she sees this!" Cried Undine, a girl whose hair was surprisingly neither blonde, brunette nor red but a mix of the three. The girls were 'decorating' her desk for her birthday tomorrow. "Too bad we're not in the same class as her." Isobel grinned.
They finished the last bit of the surprise. Medea looked around the corridor from inside the door. "OK it's clear, we can go." The girls slipped out into the corridor and crept silently back to the Ravenclaw Tower common room.
Sirius, James, Peter and Remus watched as girls treaded soundlessly down the hall. Remus stared at their retreating forms. Then returned to the moment "Hey how are we going to get back in without anyone noticing?" he asked worriedly to his friends.
"Um, I guess we could stay under the cloak and go back in. If anyone asks tomorrow we'll just say it was a ghost or something." James said quickly. They sidled up to the Fat Lady's portrait.
"Open says me." Sirius called out the password. She swung open deeply disturbed that there was no one there. The boys were lucky, it seemed everyone had called it an early night. They headed up to their dorm room where they finally pulled off the invisibility cloak of James'.
"That was close." Peter whimpered " We could have been caught or stuck outside all night!" he panicked slightly.
"Oh please! Wormtail, you worry more than Moony here." Sirius scoffed.
James collapsed onto his bed "Augh, I'm exhausted maybe I should turn in for the night."
Remus looked puzzled " But we came back because you had homework!"
James rolled onto hiss side. "I know but I just don't want to do it tonight. I'm too drained."