Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were huddled together with a group of young wizards and witches looking in the window of one of the many shops on Diagon Alley. They were admiring all the practical joke supplies from the window, waiting for Peter Pettigrew and James Potter to arrive.
"Ooh those filibuster fireworks would work great. Oh but what about those exploding quills?" Remus and Sirius were so engulfed in creating the loudest and most embarrassing practical joke that they didn't notice James until he was right behind them.
"Busy planning our next great feat are we?" James grinned a mischievous grin and turned to his mom and dad. "You remember Sirius and Remus right?"
"Oh yes, I believe they were mentioned in a few of the letters sent home to inform us of your detentions. " His mother a boys will be boys look when James' father spoke.
"James meet us at Rubies Robe shop in half an hour your mother and I are going to have a drink at the Leaky Cauldron we've got some friends to meet and then we'll be ready to finish your shopping." With that, James' Parents gave him a big smile and went on their way.
The boys entered Merlin's Mischief's to stock up on practical joke supplies. While they were looking atinsulting mirrors Peter Pettigrew joined them. The four boys were known as the Marauders around Hogwarts. They were also known for their practical jokes and extreme intelligence (when it comes to magic).
The boys finally decided on their first practical joke and bought enough supplies to last them until their first weekend trip to Hogsmeade. Their bags were full of cackling cauldrons, the kind that collapse when used in potions causing cackles from all the students: acid pops, and filibuster fireworks.
The boys said there goodbyes and James met his parents at Rubies Robe Shop. His mother had taken to the idea of trying new robe colors so she had him try on all sorts of robes. He stepped out of the dressing room with a dark purple robe on. It was one of the dress robes he was trying on. It was light weight and sophisticated. His shiny new dress shoes looked perfect under it. The bottom hem was sewn with silver moons and stars which help to set off the deep purple of the robe. He turned to show his mom how it looked from the back when he noticed a beautiful red-head on the other side of the shop. She had just come out of the dressing room wearing a dark green robe made out of flowy material. It set off her fiery hair and made her look absolutely radiant. James was so caught up by her that he didn't notice that his mom was talking to him.
"Oh sorry, I was daydreaming again I guess. Can we hurry this along I told my friends I'd meet them later." So finally he decided on the purple dress robe and a deep red dress robe for his two required dress robes and an array of different colored robes for everyday wear. His mother went to pay for his things while he slipped across the shop to the dressing room where the red head was.
He waited a few minutes and then she opened the door and stepped out. She was wearing a golden yellow dress robe with green flecks on the hems. James would normally despise these colors but they matched her hair perfectly and lit her eyes up. She turned to look in the mirror and bumped into James. His strong arms caught her, holding on a little too long, and then he gently let her go. "Oh James, Hi. I didn't see you there." She stopped waiting for a reply but James was distracted by how gorgeous she looked. She noticed him looking at her so she turned around slowly and asked, "So how do I look?" Her hair fell in scarlet curls gently on her shoulders and reaching to the middle of her back. The robe gathered at the waste and hung gently on her hips, showing off her curves.
"A-mmazing. I mean great you look great." James tried to play it off but it was too late she had caught him. "So you're here by yourself?" He asked
"Yeah my mum and dad are too unfamiliar with the wizarding world they always get in the way." Lily replied. She was Lily Evans, she had also been a friend of James since the first year. They were more like acquaintances until they became Prefects and for some reason kept running into each other in the Prefects bathroom. Her parents and sister were all muggles. He understood, but he didn't think she should be in Diagon Alley alone.
"So, where are you staying tonight?" He inquired. His eyes darted towards the counter where his mother was just finishing paying for his things. He ran his hands through his wild hair making it stick up even more.
"Um I've got a room above the leaky cauldron for the night. I saw Sirius and Remus checking in also. They somehow talked their parents into letting them stay too." Lily said. "We're having dinner around here later if you'd like to join us."
"Okay, I'll talk to my parents and meet you by Ollivander's Wand Shop at 7:00 okay?" He winked and turned to leave but not before she answered him with a simple yes and a big smile.
James' parents seemed relieved when he asked to take a room in Diagon Alley instead of going home. They said they had a few business matters to take care of and left him with a large bag of money and a goodbye. They said they would meet him at platform 9 and ¾ tomorrow before he left.
James met up with Lily, Sirius, and Remus at 7:00. The only one missing was Peter but his parents were so protective of him that none of the other four expected him to show anyway. They all walked down to a little restaurant called Tort and Shall where a tall waitress greeted them. She was so tall that she had to bend down to take their orders. When she left the boys had a horrible time trying to contain their laughter. The four of them each ordered Butterbeer but it was nothing like the Butterbeer from Honeydukes. The four enjoyed conversations of Quidditch strategies for the new year, how much they hated the Slytherins and who the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher will be.
"I heard that Professor Bumtig got called into work with the Ministry of Magic and that's why we have a new professor this year." Said Remus. Ever since Voldemort came into power, a few years ago Dumbledore had been extremely selective on the teachers he chose. "This year I hear we are going into deep dark arts we'll even learn some of the curses. Even the unforgivable curses." Remus said excitedly.
"Err I don't know if I want to learn those. Arent you a little too excited about those Remus? Asked Lily.
Why would they call away Professor Bumtig away, what is so bad that they need him?" asked Sirius.
"Hey guys, Lily is getting uncomfortable lets talk about something else." James shot a glance at Lily and she was chewing nervously on her straw. He hated to see her looking so upset. Her bright green eyes were dulled and were darting across the room. "Hey lets go get some candy and hang out in one of our rooms." James suggested. James had decided to room with the other two boys.
The four walked to Wallabees Candy shop and grabbed as many chocolate covered frogs, fizzing whizbees and Bertie Botts Every flavor beans as they could and headed back to the boys' room. The four of them played exploding snap until they couldn't stay awake anymore. "I'm tired guys, I think I am going to head back to my room." Lily sleepily said.
"I'll walk you." James said. He had thrown his robe over the post of one of the beds and was wearing muggle clothes underneath. He had on a vintage rock t-shirt and a pair of jeans.
They walked to her room and she rustled around in her robe pockets looking for her key. She unlocked the door and James followed her in. "Are you sure you'll be alright. I can stay for a little while to make sure your okay." He offered.
"That would be nice.," She said as she unbuttoned her robe. She had clothes on underneath but she still felt awkward taking it off in front of him. He must have noticed because he turned to look at something he found interesting on the nightstand. When he turned around she had laid the robe on her bed and was wearing a black tank top and a pair of shorts.
The door to the Leaky Cauldron was directly beneath Lily's room and just as James was going to comment on how good she looked a loud bang came from down stairs. The noise startled Lily and she grabbed James.
She laughed, "Well, I guess you guys really got me scared with all that Voldemort talk. I mean uh-"
But James cut her off, "You're not afraid to call him by his name? No one else I know does that. I think it adds to his power to be afraid to say his name. So I say it too" He was astonished, he thought she was the type of girl who would cower in the corner rather than face what she was scared of.
"I'm sorry." She shifted her gaze to his lips and then up to his eyes. "So you know I'm not as scared as most girls but its only because you're here. If you weren't here I'd have myself in pieces imagining all sorts of crazy things."
The two flopped down on the bed and talked until early morning. They fell asleep and didn't wake up until Remus and Sirius knocked on Lily's door.
On the train to Hogwarts, Sirius, James, Peter and Remus all had a compartment to themselves. "So you were just walking her to her room huh? Yeah I bet." Sirius joked with James.
"We didn't do anything, we watched some boring show and fell asleep an hour or two before you two woke us up. What did you two boys do all alone?" James knew that by turning the tables he would get them off his back,
"That's not even funny." Sirius replied. Of course it was funny, Sirius was so good looking that he could have as many girls as he wanted.
"Excuse me but last time I checked, Sirius wasn't a girl and even if he was he wouldn't be a pretty one." Remus laughed at his own joke and then went back to being mad at James for his remark.
"Wait a minute, you checked to see if he was a boy?" All four of them chuckled. Sirius got up and said, "I'm going to go see what Melinda Burton is doing. She's the blonde fifth year you know."
"Yeah, we know. You don't have to leave. We are just teasing you" James, Remus and Peter all laughed at Sirius for being so uncomfortable. They all knew he was head over heels for Melinda. Sirius gave in and took a seat next to Peter.
The boys were so tired from staying up so late last night that they could hardly keep their eyes open. They were about to doze off when Lily slid their compartment door open. "Okay, I'm sorry but you're going to have to make room for me, The girls in my compartment are being so giggly that I want to vomit. I am too tired to listen to how cute the boys in compartment 12 are." Lily lazily leaned on the doorway.
The boys must have been tired enough to be slaphappy, because they burst out laughing.
"Why are you laughing at me. You guys kept me up so late. I'm trying to not be as grumpy." She was definitely unhappy that the boys were laughing at her.
"Lily, were not laughing at you." James said as he scooted over to make a spot for her to sit down "Do you know which compartment you are in?"
"No and I didn't know it mattered. Oh, " She sighed " I'm in the twelfth bloody compartment aren't I? Well that should give the girls something else to giggle about." And she leaned her head against the compartment wall until she and the rest of the boys fell asleep.
The four boys and Lily woke when the train reached Hogwarts, which meant they had missed the little witch with the food cart and their stomachs were considerably empty. They all quickly put their robes on and stepped outside of the compartment.
"Hello, Lily, James, Others. I see you were too tired to play any jokes on other students. Lucky for you because I'm a prefect this year." Just like every year Severus Snape stood outside of their compartment with his beady eyes glaring. He was so full of hate towards the Marauders ever since their second year when they caught him breaking a school rule and blackmailed him the rest of the year.
"No Severus you're wrong again. We don't play jokes on other students; we play jokes on you. You'll never learn." Sirius was tired of Snape's attitude before he even began.
"Things will be different this year." And Snape turned on his heels and left the compartment.
"How can things be different this year? Didn't he say the same thing last year? If that's the case, he's not off to a good start. He deserves what he gets." Remus stated once the five of them had squeezed into one of the horseless coaches.