Chapter Two

The Marauders were meeting in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, long after classes had ended. They were meeting in this dark lowly dungeon for they were planning - what else? Pranks.

"Man, Snivellus isn't going to know what hit him!" James said, laughing wickedly.

"Yeah," said Peter, a small pale ugly boy with greasy brown hair and a stubby nose. "But what if Lucius is around? He always seems to be on Snape's side."

"Yes, Malfoy does seem to ruin our best plans. He'll probably go rat me out to Professor Jammes."

"Could you please use a different term?" Peter said with a goofy smile. James laughed.

"Damn Slytherins. The whole lot of them. Why don't they all just go jump in the lake?" Peter said, staring out the window at the lake with the giant squid.

"Or we'll just stick Moony on them all next month!" James said. They both laughed just as the dungeon door opened.

"Aw, speak of the devil . . ." He said as Lupin and Sirius appeared, but that's not what stopped his friendly greeting. For directly behind Padfoot and Moony was the vision of beauty that tortured his thoughts. Lily Evans.

Sirius was playfully teasing his new girlfriend Nancy. It wasn't long at all before Nancy and Sirius were in a serious tongue-wrestling match, right there in the doorway. "Get a room!" Peter yelled with a smile. Sirius only waved him off. "Aren't they disgusting?" he asked, but James didn't hear him.

"Hiya, Lily!" James said, staring at her intently.

"Leave me alone, Potter." she said in an annoyed tone, then turned back to her discussion with Remus.

"You know, Wormtail, I'm beginning to think she doesn't like me very much." James laughed.

"No! You know, after seven years of hatred, I had never seen it before!" said Peter.

"Why do you say that every time I try to say hello?" James asked, pretending to be hurt.

"Uh, maybe because I want you to leave me alone?" she said sarcastically.

"So are you saying you don't like me, Lily?"

She dropped her hands by her side and looked directly at him. "Yes, Potter. That's exactly what I'm saying." Then she turned to Lupin be fore leaving. "I'll see you around, Remus." Sirius gave Nancy a finalizing kiss be fore she turned. "See ya, sweetie."

"Thanks for the notes, Lily!" Remus called after her. "Yeah, yeah," she said as she rounded the corner.

"So-Moony. You and Lily getting kind of close?" James teased.

"No way!" said the young charming Remus Lupin, who had a crooked nose, pale blue eyes but a warm smile and a friendly disposition. "I know better than to move in on your woman."

"Dang straight." James said with a smile, nodding emphatically.

"Come one guys. Now that we're all finally here, let's get busy." Said Sirius Black, a charismatic and mysterious heart-throb of the school who had long dark hair that often fell in his face to block the dark brown of his eyes. He whipped out his wand and pulled a tattered piece of parchment out of his robes. As the three friends gathered around, Sirius smiled mischievously.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good . . ."

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Lily was in the common room again, laying down in front of the fire, reading homework for her History of Magic class. She had eaten a quick supper so she could have some study time. She always enjoyed her study time - the warmth of the fire, the quiet of the common room.

Suddenly, the doors swung open. So much for quiet time, she thought. Lily looked up to see Nancy and Sirius walking in hand in hand, probably looking for a nice dark corner. Other young Gryffindor boys and girls piled in, and trailing them was Remus and Peter. She smiled at Remus; she had always liked him. He was a good-looking boy, smart and friendly, though a little mysterious, always disappearing every month.

Lily's thoughts of Remus were interrupted suddenly as she felt something crawling up her leg. She looked over her shoulder and saw a giant spider dangling off her feet.

She screamed and kicked it into the air. Afraid now that it would land on her, she covered her head with her arms and closed her eyes.

"Imobulous!" she heard someone shout. She looked up, there was a frozen spider, floating above her. Then the laughter of James Potter filled the air.

"Is there an ugly spider crawling on my beautiful Lily flower?"

"Potter, stop calling me that! And yes, there was a spider crawling on me, but it was your fault!" she yelled, the anger and hatred for James apparent in her eyes.

"Aw, come on. It's just a spell." James said, picking up the spider out of the air by a hairy leg and tossing it into the fire - Poof!

"Just a tip, Potter. If you ever START trying to win a girl, she'll probably want to be showered with flowers, not spiders." She said slamming her book closed and standing to her full height in front of him.

This is why he liked her so much. No matter how hard he tried to fight it, the rare beauty had definitely won his heart. She was a fiery red head with an attitude to match. She was smart, witty and funny at times, and always beautiful. She had brilliant green eyes that danced when she was happy and flashed when she was angry. She had full lips that were more beautiful than any sunrise when she smiled, and those were rare occasions when he saw that. She had long thick red hair that was also exemplary of her personality: fun, bold, beautiful. And as she stood there angry and glaring at him, he thought she was the cutest damn thing in the world. In her pajama shorts and white tank top with hands place on her hips, she was the cutest thing in the world and the only girl at Hogwart's who hated him.

"Lily flower, you -"

"Stop calling me that!" She screamed and stomped her foot, causing a few heads to turn in her direction. "What do you want, Potter? Just tell me what you want."

"How about going out with me?" he said.

"Potter," she said through gritted teeth, "I wouldn't go out with you if you were the last person on this blue and green planet!"

"Ouch," he muttered. "Well, I guess I'll settle for escorting you to the hall that we're supposed to be patrolling right now." James said with a smirk.

"What?!" said Lily, looking at the large grandfather clock. "Oh no!" She bolted towards the picture of the Fat Lady.

"You might want to change into some robes first, Lily flower!" James called after her. She looked down at her tank and shorts, then took a sharp turn towards the girls dorm. "AUGH!!!"

James was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs with a smirk when she returned.

"Ready?" he said, holding his arm out to her. Lily sighed and brushed past him "You never give up, do you?"

"Never." he said with a smile, then followed her out of the common room.