Disclaimer: I own Maru. No one else.

Reaka: Hey! Well, you're not bored to death yet if you've made it to this chapter! Good for you!

All right! Let's get to the basics. Half of this chapter will be spent on Maru and Rose and the other half will be spent in Maru's point of view. Okay? Okay. Now, on with the chapter!

Meeting the Marauders

"You just stared at him for four years." Rose said in disbelief. "You? Maru Markston! You were too shy to talk? That's hard to believe!"

"Well, I was," Maru said. "I was very different as a teenager than what I am now."

"I still can't picture you as a stoic," Rose replied. "You just seem a little wild for that."

"Maybe I do now," Maru agreed. "But if I were to go back in time and tell the old me what I'd be like in the future, she'd probably laugh in my face or run away because I wasn't Lily Evans."

The phone rang, and Rose went to answer it. She talked for a few minutes.

"Who is it, Rose?" Maru asked.

"My mother. She said she's going to be gone all night. Do you care if I stay over for the night?"

"Go ahead. Does she want me to come with you to get your stuff?"

"She doesn't need to know I went back to the house."

Rose hung up the phone and set off towards her house to get the things she needed. While she was gone, Maru opened the book again and stared at the only picture she and Remus were in together. She felt her eyes start to water as she looked at it, so she closed the book.

"I'm back!" Rose called. Maru sighed in relief. She was glad that Rose was with her reliving her memories. There was someone she could share them with.

Rose put her things on a nearby couch and sat down on a chair next to Maru. Maru looked at her and smiled.

"So let's continue with the story!" Rose said cheerfully.

(Maru's point of view)

At my fifth year at Hogwarts I'd started talking to other people besides Lily. But it would only be for things like borrowing an extra quill or parchment. If I ever needed help on any homework, I'd still turn to Lily. It was harder that year to even talk to her anyway. She had started dating James Potter, so she was spending more time with him than me. I didn't mind though. I was happy for her. But let's get to the point of my story.

One day, I'd decided to do my homework outside because it seemed so wrong to just do it in the castle. I'd just come to my last question when a group of shadows blocked my light. I looked up. A Slytherin boy stared down at me.

"Hello Mudblood," the greasy git said. "Am I blocking your sun?"

I just looked at him and didn't answer. He laughed at me.

"What's the matter?" he asked. "Cat got your tongue?"

Seeing I was doing my homework, he snatched it up right away.

"That's mine!" I exclaimed. "Give it back!"

"I think not," he said. "I think I'm going to keep this."

He looked over at the lake. His eyes gleamed, and he started to crumple up my homework.

"Don't do that!" I commanded. "I worked hard on it!"

"Leave her alone, Snivellus!" a new voice commanded. "She didn't do anything to you!"

"She's a filthy Mudblood," Snivellus said.

"You leave her alone, or we'll put a hex on you," said the familiar voice. I realized that it was Remus.

Snivellus threw my homework at me and walked back towards the castle.

"Mudblood," he said under his breath.

Remus, Peter, James, and Sirius stepped up to me.

"Thanks," I mumbled. I started to step away from them, but Sirius stepped in front of me. James was at my left, Remus was at my right, and Peter was behind me, so I couldn't get away from them.

"I know you," Sirius said.

"We all do," James stated. "She's the girl that only talks to Lily."

"Quite the shy one," Remus agreed. "You'd think we'd be mean if we started talking or something."

I don't know why, but I started shaking. I started to think that maybe they scared Snivellus away just so they could bully me.

"Don't be afraid," Peter reassured me, "we're not going to be mean to you. Come on. We'll walk you to class. So what is your next class?"

I didn't answer. Instead, I started looking for Lily.

"James, I think you'd better find Lily," Remus said. "She's not going to talk."

"You'd think she was a first year," Sirius said. "We're friends of Lily's. You can talk to us. What's your name?"

"M-Maru," I stammered.

"See, that wasn't so bad," Remus said kindly. "Maru huh? Pretty name."

I blushed. Remus Lupin was actually talking to me. My heart was racing at the thought of it. He'd even noticed me during those past four years! I gave a light smile knowing that.

"Well, look at that," Peter said. "She can even smile too!"

"Lily was right about you," said James. "She'd always liked your smile."

I blushed again. Sirius laughed.

"You really act like a first year, you know that?" he asked.

Remus looked down at his watch, and he cursed under his breath.

"We've got to hurry," he said. "We're going to be late for Transfiguration!"

"You guys go without me," Peter said. "I'm going to walk Maru to her class."

Peter, obviously, didn't really care if he was late for class or not. He was more interested in walking me to class.

"So what's your next class, Maru?" he asked me.

"Potions," I answered him.

"Ah," he said. I couldn't help noticing that he barely took his eyes of me as we walked to the dungeons together. I started to blush again.

"What're you blushing for?"

"You're staring,"

"I am? Sorry."

We made it to the dungeons, and I walked in mumbling a good-bye to Peter. He smiled and walked to his class.

Potions had soon become hard to pay attention to that day. I'd almost blown up the class and cost Gryffindor a lot of points. Charms was no better either. Remus had actually talked to me. Not just him, but all of the Marauders were talking to me now. My friend number had gone up from one to five.

That night, in the Gryffindor Common Room, Lily came by and sat with me by the fire.

"You did it!" she exclaimed. "You finally talked to Remus!"

"You know I like him?"

"Of course I know! I knew since you were sorted your first year! The way you looked at him! That, and the fact that you were talking out loud. But there's something I've got to tell you."

"And that would be?"

"I asked the four of them to talk with you and say hi. I knew you'd never do it yourself. From what I heard from James, you were lucky they came when they did though. Severus Snape almost destroyed your homework."

"Are all Slytherins like him? He even called me a Mudblood. I heard that word used before, but I never really found out what it means."

Lily had a flash of anger show on her face, then she hugged me.

"It means dirty blood. It's a really bad insult for Muggle-borns like you and me. All of the Slytherins are pure blood wizards, so they think they're better than everyone else. Don't let Snivellus get you down. You've got me and the Marauders as your friends. We won't let him harass you."

I smiled. Lily was right. Remus and the others were my friends now.

Reaka: That's it. I think I might be boring the hell out of you, so the next chapter's going to be some light-hearted comedy. Okay? Okay. We're good on that. See ya!