Disclaimer: We do not own the Marauders nor the brilliance from whence they came for if we did we would not be near blindness from reading and re-reading this fanfic but instead would be temporarily blinded from the tropical sun of the Bahamas, where we would live with James, Remus and Sirius

Dance...as though no one is watching you
Love...as though you have never been hurt before
Sing...as though no one can hear you
Live... as though heaven is on earth

The Red Hot Marshmallow Queen

Lily nibbled moodily on her cheesecake, frowning at the numbers on the clock that assured her that it was definitely still in the wee hours of the morn. She found herself reminiscing about 6th year, which had been confusing her for the past two days. She didn't know how she would have survived without her best friends; Summer and especially Summer's cousin, Caleb. He was such a sweet guy despite his very punk appearance. She couldn't count all the times James's face had let jealously leak out when he had seen them hanging out. She flinched as she thought of James. Or Potter, she corrected herself. Her heart was pressured by her emotions; she just couldn't quite decipher what those feelings were. She only knew that when James had looked at her that day on the train she had seen the person within. He did not have the confident mask on but instead she could see emotion written all over his face, and his eyes showed pain. Maybe even guilt. Lily shook the thought from her mind. James was a Marauder. He hexed people for amusement just because he could get away with it. James was just James, and the day he changed and started to show emotion would be the day she would fall in love with him. And she knew neither would happen before the end of the world. Satisfied that the world wouldn't be ending anytime soon, she threw her half-eaten cheesecake in the trash and went back to bed. Hey, she thought hopefully, summer's just started, there's always time for a fling or two…

"Mmm pasrdfhhs the wrasberwy kind…"Sirius managed to get out between huge mouthfuls of New York style cheesecake.

"In...a…second" muttered James; he was attempting to get at least half of what he wanted before he would pass it down to Sirius.

Much like my policy on girls he thought mischievously as he swallowed his final bite and passed the remains to Sirius.

Ahh...James sighed an hour later as he lay down next to his fork (silly things such as forks and knives were useless when you were attempting to eat more than Sirius). There was no sign of the cheesecakes his mother had sent up when she had gone to bed.

"Ok, down to business," Sirius said as he patted his bare stomach.

"Whoa mate, when did your shirt come off?" James asked incredulously.

Sirius shrugged "Somewhere between the raspberry and chocolate cheesecakes."

"You know what would make this moment perfect?" asked James, as a dreamy look came over his eyes.

He waited for Sirius to ask what or at least grunt until he noticed the look of disgust on Sirius's face.

"Honestly mate…I don't swing that way…"

"Oh god not that!" James exclaimed." I was thinking we need some girls."

"You mean you'd like to nibble on some strawberry sweet cheesecake…"Sirius suggested, in all seriousness, "meaning dear old Lily. We both know what you were dreaming about…" the rest was drowned out by a pillow that was energetically spanking Sirius on the butt. James twiddled his thumbs and smiled innocently.

"Honestly…ahh..Prongsie…ENOUGH WITH THAT PILLOW" Sirius said. He threw the pillow a look of disgust and it stopped mid-kick and fell to the floor disheartened.

"Seriously Prongs, do you still have it for Evans?" Sirius kept a pretty straight face in consideration for the moment.

"I dunno, I guess I don't ever have a chance with her. Six years I've been trying. Such a stubborn beauty."

"Oy Prongs, who are you, Peter?" They both laughed. "Six years of endless, but nonetheless brilliant pranks, six years of fights, and six years of referring to each other by last name. You haven't exactly been her prince charming."

"Yah I guess you're right. But I tried changing last year; remember? It's hopeless."

"Look James, the summer is almost over, and you are a lot more mature. Come

on, Lily is really perceptive and I think we both know that she had a hunch you were only changing temporarily to get her to go out with you."

"Good point. You give excellent advice. And I thought that was Moony's thing."

"Look mate, I do love a good deep conversation, but what do you say we…"

"…Cut the touchy feely crap?" James finished with a snort. They were good at reading each other's minds.

"Definitely" they said at the same time.

"I'm thinking it's about time we asked Summer how her summer's going…"

Only a Marauder would know what his innocent tone suggested.

Lily spun around and sank to her knees as she hit the final note of The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go." Summer was still in the splits she had gone into energetically at the beginning of the chorus. Lily laughed as she set down her hairbrush to help Summer up. Although she had to admit singing in pajamas with hairbrushes was cheesy, it was definitely pretty funny. The pair moved to the bed, Lily eating chocolate and Summer eating marshmallows.

"So…"said Summer, tossing a marshmallow, which Lily caught in her mouth "what's going on between you and James?"

Lily blushed just a little, "Summer, why do you always bring that up?"

"C'mon Lily I know you don't completely hate him. I'll never forget that secret you told me at the end of last year."

"Oh you mean when I thought I liked…" at that precise moment someone sneezed loudly.

"Sirius Black you… you…pervert!" Summer gasped as she caught sight of James and Sirius's in her bedroom fire.

"Ok, we've been officially caught Padfoot. Abort mission," said James. "And remind me to kill you for ruining that moment later." he muttered under his breath just loud enough for Sirius to catch. Sirius and James stepped out of Summer's fire and into her room.

"H…how long have you been there," asked Lily, uncertain if she really wanted to know the answer.

"Oh believe me Love, we caught the end of your song," said Sirius flashing her a big grin.

Lily turned a delicate shade of pink but stood up with poise nonetheless. Then she noticed James eyeing her strangely and looked down at what she was wearing. She had thrown on the black boxer shorts that said "RED HOT" on the butt with red lettering that Summer had gotten her for Christmas and a white tank top. Definitely more skin then she intended for someone like James to see. She jumped onto the bed and covered her body with the sheets. Sirius and Summer, both extremely playful, had already started a pillow fight that they were concentrating on more than their argument on whether Sirius was hot half-naked or just plain sickening.

James looked at Lily's face peeking out from the sheets awkwardly. She was staring at him, and he felt he would lose a Quidditch match on purpose just to know what was going on in her head.

He looks different, Lily was thinking. She was taking in the fitted black shirt and black boxers with snitches on them that he was wearing. But the most intriguing thing about him was the new expression on his face. He still had his famous Marauder smile but there was something different. Typical, she thought but also a little interesting. He's certainly tanner. And taller, the perfect height to hug. She would probably have to stand on tiptoe to kiss him. Bad thought Lily, no more bad thoughts. Well the world hadn't ended and as he had yet to show any emotion she would not permit herself to think those thoughts about him Even if she was PMSing, she needed chocolate, not a man. Oh crap, I've been staring she realized.

To end the awkward moment she threw a giant marshmallow at him. He caught it. Damn those Seeker reflexes. He smiled at her, but she couldn't tell if he was being flirty or just being nice, so she threw another marshmallow, which hit him right on the nose. That's when the crazy marshmallow/pillow war begun. And it did not cease until the girls were cornered by Sirius and James, and had to beg to be let free (joking of course). However, the sugar from all of that cheesecake had most certainly gone to Sirius's head, and he refused to leave until Summer licked the chocolate she had flung at him off his bicep.

"And what will you ask of the Marshmallow, or should I say strawberry cheesecake Queen, Jamesie," said Sirius, after Summer had consented to his wishes.

James could probably think of a million things he'd like from Lily, but he settled on the gentlemanly course. He gave her a look that said Don't ask at her questioning to the cheesecake thing and gave her a hug before he dragged Sirius into the fire.

Needless to say, Caleb was a little worried when he went to fetch his cousin, to find a sleeping Summer and Lily amidst six empty packs of marshmallows and feathers everywhere the next morning.

"Girls," he muttered before closing the door.