Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own any of the characters from the Harry Potter series. They belong to the talented J.K. Rowling.

--The Year Ahead--

The train was speeding ahead while Lily tried to put on her prefect badge. Remus suddenly looked up from the game of wizarding chess that he was playing with James. When he saw Lily's badge he sighed and walked over to his bag to retrieve his own badge. As James saw what Remus was carrying in his hand, he let out a loud snort of laughter.

"No way moony, they made you a prefect?" James asked in an amazed voice.

"Yeah, I can't quite believe it myself," Remus replied

Lily who had been conveniently listening to their conversation decided to chime in.

"Well, Remus, I for one think you deserve to be a prefect and I'm sure you will do a great job," she said, much to the astonishment of James.

"Umm... thanks I guess, and likewise to you too," Remus managed to get out.

Sirius who had finally caught on to what was happening started to laugh.

"Wow, Remus, congratulations. But I would never have made you prefect if it were my decision. What was Dumbledore thinking, you're a freaking Marauder. All we do is pull pranks on people 24/7." Sirius kept on looking at the badge with a mixture of amazement and amusement on his face.

"Well maybe that's the whole point," Lily snapped back at Sirius. "Maybe Dumbledore was hoping that if he made Remus a prefect he might be able to keep you guys in line."

The reactions of the Marauders were priceless. Sirius had a look of clarity on his face that was very unusual for him. James just burst out laughing, as if silently saying to Lily that her idea was so preposterous that it was funny. Peter just started mumbling that 'if that was what Dumbledore had planned, then he had another think coming.' Remus started stuttering incoherent statements as if that might take away the idea that Lily had put on the table.

Emma and Madison who had been silently taking in the scene started to laugh as they saw the Marauders reactions.

Not soon enough, the train had reached Hogwarts. Lily looked out of her window and sighed in contentment. It didn't matter that she had four very annoying boys sitting in her train compartment. It didn't matter that the year ahead of her was bound to be very hard and stressful. What mattered was that she was finally home. For the first time ever, Lily didn't feel bad saying that this was her home. She loved her parents dearly, but this was the place that flooded her memories. Whenever Lily ventured home on holidays she longed to return to the school where she could take long walks alone. No matter how hard she had tried, in the past, to make her parents' house her home she just couldn't. Her heart truly belonged to Hogwarts.

When she descended from the train she heard the familiar voice of a favorite half giant, Hagrid. He was beckoning to the first years to follow him. Lily vividly remembered her first journey to Hogwarts. She hadn't known a single child since she came from a muggle family. Luckily, she was able to join two very friendly girls in a cabin on the train. They quickly became friends, and still to this day Lily, Madison, and Emma were best friends. Suddenly, Lily's thoughts wandered to her first glimpse of the castle. She remembered how she couldn't quite believe her eyes. Could one building be so big? And the grounds were stunning. Every year with each first glimpse of her beloved school Lily still got that same breathless feeling. She figured she probably always would. Somehow, that single moment made this place even dearer to her.

"Well, Evans, are ya just going to stand there all day with your mouth open?" James' voice suddenly brought Lily back to the present.

When Lily looked up she found that James, Sirius, and Peter had just gotten off of the train and were walking past her towards the carriages that would take them up to the school. Lily absent-mindedly observed that Remus was missing. Then a light bulb went off in her head. She had forgotten her prefect duties that she had been assigned earlier on during the train ride in the Prefects Meeting. Lily quickly collected herself and went off to make sure that all of the students were in carriages.

Lily finished her duties and hopped in the nearest carriage. Remus was right behind her. As she saw who was in the carriage she tried to turn around, but Remus was blocking the way. She highly doubted that he would let her leave the carriage so she just sat down.

"Hi again, Lily," Sirius said in a cheery voice.

"Hi Sirius, Hi James," she replied shortly.

James nodded in recognition of Lily, his face only slightly coloring.

Once Remus sat down the carriage started to move. Lily hoped this journey would be over quickly.

"So where is Peter?" asked Remus.

"I think he got separated from us in the crowd. That's alright though. I was getting tired of his hysterical laughter over every joke Sirius made. We all know that Sirius' jokes aren't funny so I don't know why he was laughing," James said in a voice that conveyed annoyance.

"Hey, that's not very nice," Sirius defended. "I have funny jokes, don't I Remus?"

Remus just glanced out the carriage window. He was better off if he didn't say anything.

Lily was conveniently tuning out their conversation and instead watching the beautiful scenery they were passing. Her thoughts also started to wander to a certain 7TH year Ravenclaw that had been appointed Head Boy this year. Michael Kent. It was common knowledge that Michael had a crush on Lily also, but he never seemed to have the courage to ask her out. Lily sighed in anticipation as she thought about him and all the exciting things that could happen this year.

James watched Lily sigh and suddenly wanted desperately to know what she was thinking about. As hard as he tried, he just couldn't seem to quell the feelings he had for Lily. He was too scared of rejection to confront Lily about how he was feeling so he stayed at a standstill. James also realized that Lily was a valued commodity. It always made him wonder if that fact alone partially drove him to want Lily. She rarely went out with boys. In James' opinion that was because she was too good for most of the boys at Hogwarts. Humbly, James even questioned whether or not Lily was too good for him too. The question that weighed down on his mind was: Did he want her because he couldn't have her? If the answer to that question had been 'yes,' James would never have thought about pursuing Lily. Because he cared too much about not hurting her to ever make that mistake. However, it seemed that day after day he answered 'no' to that question. He wanted Lily because she was beautiful, smart, quick-witted, and unique. He wanted her because, even as cliché as it sounds, Lily was the only person that had ever truly made him want to be a better person. James sighed, wishing that he could get a chance with Lily.

Sirius glanced at the people around him as the carriage fell into silence. His eyes finally rested on Lily. She was a mystery to him. Most girls fell all over themselves trying to get at Sirius, but Lily wouldn't even give him the time of day. That intrigued and amused Sirius. Maybe that was why he wanted to get to know Lily. Sirius had a sneaking suspicion that James had a little crush on her, and he heartily approved of it. If James could catch a girl like Lily then he would be damn lucky, Sirius thought. Already, Sirius knew that somehow he and Lily would become closer. Whenever Sirius and Lily's eyes would meet there was a connection. No, it wasn't a gaze of lovers. It was a joining of kindred spirits. Sirius sighed and a feeling of safety engulfed him.

Remus turned from the window to gaze upon Lily. Out of all of the Marauders, Remus understood her best. He was the one who sat quietly and listened to the beautiful redhead spill out her hopes and fears. He was the one who spent hours studying with her. He was the one who would never have his love returned by this godly creature. Remus knew all too well that James had a crush on Lily, which meant he had no chance of getting her. James always won. That's just how things went. By now, Remus was mostly reconciled to the role of passive friend. He didn't even feel angry towards James anymore. He realized that this was yet another disappointment that he would have to endure. However, if James wanted Lily, he would have to treat her better than he had ever treated any girl before. Remus would not stand by and watch his Lily get her heart broken because of a silly, fickle, boy. No, she was too precious to become just another girl on Potter's long list. Remus sighed because his love was just another secret to add on to his already towering list.

Peter sat, thoroughly annoyed, in a carriage far ahead of the Marauders. He was tired of always being second best. There are two kinds of people in this world, Peter had been told one day, those who shine and those who follow in their shadow. He had fallen so far into the shadow that when he looked up he couldn't even see the light anymore. So now he was left in the shadow wondering how he even got there. And worst of all, he was left wondering how he would ever get out. The hopelessness was consuming. The feelings of inadequacy were unbearable. Peter sighed, wondering when he would be able to escape himself and when his time to shine would come.

As the carriage rolled to a stop, the fifth year Gryffindors were jolted from their thoughts. As they slowly walked towards the doors of the castle they each thought about what the future would hold in the year that lay ahead of them. The possibilities were endless.

A/N- I just want to thank those who reviewed. You're positive comments encouraged me to keep on writing this story!