A/N: I haven't written fanfiction in years. Let me know what you think of this attempt :)
This particular blurb takes place after the incident as seen in Snape's pensieve in Order of the Phoenix.
Also, I got the idea from Jack Zipes' essay "Spells of Enchantment", where he paraphrases Vladimir Propp's "Morphology of the Folk Tale". Proppattempts to list traits found in every (or at least most)common folktale(s), which Zipes summarizes in list form. This is where I got the "confronting the villain" and "three gifts" episodes.
Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling. I simply dream.
Warnings: Mild suggestion of violence.
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The Marauders and the Quest for Lily Evans
The mess'rs Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail glanced uneasily at each other. James had barely spoken a word since the incident.
"Well, I'm up for a game of chess, what do you say James?" Remus ventured.
"No thanks."
Another awkward silence.
"Would you look at that Cassandra Brighton." Sirius whistled, nudging his partner in crime.
"Not interested." Prongs returned glumly.
"You should've seen Snape in Potions today. Pompous git." Peter offered.
No response.
"You know Lily can never pass up a chance to help the simpletons." Sirius protested.
"Maybe we had no right to bully him." James mused.
"Maybe he had no right to her pity." Sirius countered.
"Sirius!" Remus shot his friend a warning glare.
"But it's tr…"
"Perhaps we should discuss how we're going to make Lily see that James is not a bastard." Remus interrupted again.
Sirius brightened. "Excellent idea, Moony! We'll show her he's actually the dashing knight of her dreams."
"Knight…" Peter murmured. He suddenly slapped the table. "I've got it!"
He turned to rummage in his bag and eventually emerged with…
"'A Guide to Fairy Tale Romance'?" James looked over the title doubtfully.
"Brilliant!" Sirius exclaimed. "Well, don't just sit there, crack it open!"
"But it's by 'Venus Galadriel Aphorisia'." The name only increased James' skepticism. Unfortunately, Sirius did not seem to hear him.
"Let's see…we'll skip all this 'birth of the hero' nonsense. We've already got our hero, don't we, mate?"
James put his head down into his arms and a muffled groan of exasperation was heard.
The Three Gifts
"Finally, a section that looks useful. It says here that gifts from three animals will aid me in my task. Seeing that all three of you can take some sort of animal form…"
The other three Marauders looked at each other.
"I brought you the book." Peter offered helpfully.
"I bring you my brotherly love and support." Sirius slapped James hard on the back.
"And I bring you my patronizing amusement and a shoulder to cry on when you guys fail." Remus smiled mischievously, before being tackled by Sirius.
"And I'll remember all that next Christmas." James grumbled.
Confronting the Villain
"I'm not sure that the book means us to go out and look for a villain." James was once again doubtful.
"But we're not actively looking for him per say. He already exists." Sirius argued.
And that was why they were currently roaming the halls on a Saturday evening, searching for Snape.
"I don't see why you're so convinced that Snape is the villain that we have to vanquish, if one must even be vanquished at all." Remus said mildly.
"I didn't see you stopping us the last time we strung him from a tree upside-down."
"And that's precisely why we're in this mess to begin with, isn't it?" Remus bristled slightly, but then lapsed into a guilty silence. Sirius glanced at Remus suspiciously, and made for another retort.
Not wanting this to escalate into another battle of ethics, James frantically searched for a change of topic. The one he found wasn't quite what he had expected. They had reached a dead-end, but also a bloody and bruised Snape. He was stuck in the corner and surrounded by three Slytherins, lead by Lucius Malfoy. Surprised, the Marauders stood unnoticed by the other group.
"And what place did you think you had, being beat on by those Gryffindor scum? Disgracing our house?" Lucius was sneering softly at Snape. "You should be grateful that we've decided to help…absolve you of this shame by providing you with a much worthier bully." He motioned to one of his goons, and the oaf made towards Snape, looking to hex him again.
"Expelliarmus!" James' spell threw the Slytherin against the wall.
Lucius turned swiftly, furious. Upon realizing who had issued the spell, his face took upon a look of complacent disdain.
"Well well…fancy yourselves the heroes, do you? Let me guess, you've come to redeem yourselves by saving poor Snape?"
Snape glared angrily at the Marauders. James knew that saving Snape now would simply give Lucius more of a reason to threaten him. But of course, few decisions come easily.
"What's happening?" came Lily Evans' voice, sharply. She had come across the squabble in her prefect rounds.
Not saving Snape was now not an option.
James was at a loss for words. "Lucius…"
"I heard that part," Lily said coolly.
James realized she was waiting to see what they would do. He looked at his friends helplessly.
"What does the book say?" Sirius whispered to Peter.
"I don't know. The last page was ripped out." Peter whispered back.
Remus rolled his eyes.
James suddenly had an idea. "What makes you think we were looking for Snape, Malfoy?"
Remus quickly caught on. "We've been hoping to catch you alone for a long time."
"Being the arrogant git that you are, we knew you wouldn't be able to pass up a chance to go after Snape. What's he to us anyway? But a chance to take on you, Slytherin prefect, outnumbered in a deserted hall…golden." Sirius smirked, winking at Peter who already had his wand out.
Lucius began to look troubled. He knew any disgrace that Snape had suffered through the publicity of the incident would be multiplied ten fold if Lucius himself were the victim.
"Fulgeo!" A flash of light from his wand quickly solved the problem. When the Marauders regained their sight, the three Slytherins were already a hall and a half ahead of them.
The remaining students regarded each other warily.
"So…are you alr–" James didn't get to finish his sentence, as Snape swept wordlessly down the hall without looking back.
"Grateful bugger, isn't he?" Sirius muttered.
"That was decent of you Potter," Lily smiled. "I'd better finish my rounds though. See you in Potions tomorrow!" With that, she too was gone.
"Well that did work out rather well, didn't it?" James said, considerably happier. "I hope we've all learned something important from this experience."
Sirius was still muttering to himself. "Arrogant bastard. I'll teach him a lesson in humility."
"I wonder if they'll come back for revenge. They won't come back for revenge, will they?" Peter asked worriedly.
Remus simply gazed down the hall at those who had just left, wondering if they had once again been too hard on Severus, but afraid to voice any concern.
Too optimistic to let their responses bother him, James suggested they go down to the kitchens for a round of butterbeer and snacks, his treat ("But they're free, you stingy prat!" Sirius had scoffed), and the four heroes gallantly made their way away from the sunset illuminating the window in the dead-end hall.