Disclaimer: Characters and settings are property of J.K. Rowling. What you don't recognize is mine. And I wish I owned the Marauders (specifically Sirius and Remus) but most unfortunately, I do not.

Highlights of the Last Chapter: Hell, it's been so long since I updated that I can't remember. Go reread it and YOU can tell ME.

X-X-X-X-X

The rest of the week until Remus's birthday passed in relative swiftness from there. It became customary to see both Janine and Lily firmly engrossed in books – although, admittedly, Janine's was a deep blue book embossed with golden writing, and Lily's book cover held a picture of a winking, ridiculously muscled man with tousled blond hair, no shirt, and artfully ripped trousers.

No one knew quite what to make of it.

The week was busy, however, and people quickly forgot about two girls uncharacteristically reading books that didn't seem to fit their natures at all. Dumbledore announced that the funerals of the four students would be held, one after the other, on Wednesday, instead of classes – two would be private affairs, whereas the other two would be open to all students. The girls attended, as did Remus, but the rest of the boys did not. Nevertheless, the Marauders were suspiciously quiet in the ensuing days.

Until Friday evening, at any rate.

The first thing people noticed was that Janine was waltzing around, showing off a flashy bracelet with a design X's and O's in gold, set with diamonds. When questioned, she merely smiled. Sirius was seen being questioned fiercely by his friends, to which he only mumbled responses. It let everyone in little doubt as to where the bracelet had come from.

During Charms, Janine also confided that she'd gotten a letter from her aunt the night before. The others crowded around as she related the details – "She says that she'll be happy to meet us in Hogsmeade on the next trip. I haven't told her why, though. We shouldn't all go meet her, though – she's sort of… er… anti-male. Plays for the Holyhead Harpies and all that. I reckon it's better if just us girls go." The others had readily agreed to that.

Most people had long since left the Charms classroom, with the exception of Lily, who had stayed behind to help Professor Flitwick straightened the room (as it was regularly trashed by students having a good deal of fun in his class). "Thank you, Miss Evans, thank you," Flitwick said, clapping his wrinkled hands together. "If only all students were as helpful as you are-"

"Of course, Professor," interrupted Lily gently, and smiled. She had to get going, they were going to go ahead and require the directions in the Come and Go Room tonight, and if she were late, the others would kill her-

"Yes, well, off you trot, then!"

Lily disappeared from the class and halfway down the hall, she swore. "Oh, bugger it. I've forgotten his present."

"Did I hear something about presents?" Lily whirled, and her eyes narrowed on James, who was holding a bundle of letters in his hand. "Invitations," he explained. "There are a few people in other houses that we thought might like to come. It won't be a huge party, but we don't want to wander about telling each person individually, so I got delegated to send them off."

"Great," Lily replied, and then sighed. "Oh, bugger, bugger, bugger."

"Er… bugger what?"

"I've forgotten to get Remus a present. And now I've got to find some way – hmm, maybe I can require one from the Come and Go Room-"

"Nah, we've tried that. Sirius required twenty galleons, and then when he tried walking out with them, they vanished. On the other hand, we were doing our homework in there once, and Peter need a book, and he walked out with it and it didn't disappear, so he ran and put it back-"

"I think you can only take things out of the room if you have an intention of returning them, then." Lily shouldered her bag. "Well, scrap that idea."

"Well – er, I have an idea, if you're interested…"

Lily fixed him with a bright green eye. "What idea would that be?"

"Well – erm, there's a few passages out of the castle…" Lily's mouth opened slightly, and so he quickly rushed to get the rest of his explanation out. "So I thought, you know, I could maybe take you out to Hogsmeade – not to get into your pants, or anything, but to – bollocks, why do I get the idea we've had a conversation just like this before?"

"We have. Or something like it. In the Hospital Wing. And anyway, Potter, we'd get killed if we tried to head out after hours, imagine if McGonagall caught us, or worse, Dumbledore…"

"Then," he began craftily, reaching into his own bag slowly, "we just won't get caught."

"Ridiculous, someone's bound to notice-"

"Actually, the townsfolk don't care much, because we bring extra business. And anyway, if you change out of your uniform, you're less conspicuous – besides, I reckon as long as we skirt any staff members, we should be fine-"

"All right, so, assuming I did want to get into Hogsmeade – just to get his present, mind you – I'd owe you, then, wouldn't I? And I will not give you a date," she added quickly, when he opened his mouth.

"That's not what I was going to say," he lied. "Well, erm – how about, the next time you catch us doing something, so long as nobody's in sight – you let us off? Yeah, how's that?" It didn't seem like a particularly good trade-off in James's opinion, but seeing as he'd already said it, he didn't have much choice now.

"All right," Lily began woodenly. "So where is this passage, then?"

"I'll show you, but, er – d'you want to get changed first?"

"What? Oh. Right. Yes, well – I'll meet you… er, where shall I meet you?"

"You know the mirror on the fourth floor?" Lily nodded, still giving him suspicious glances. "Right, well – meet me there. In about twenty minutes, all right?"

"Don't you need to change?"

"Don't worry about." James grinned. "I've always got clothes stashed away for a moment like this."

"Fine. See you then." She began to go away, hefting her bag higher up her shoulder, before turning and adding, "Oh, and Potter? This – this isn't a date. Nothing remotely like it. Just a pair of students helping each other out. Not a date. All right?"

"Oh." James nodded, his heart sinking inwardly. Bloody hell, I'm never going to get a date from her at this rate. "Yeah, all right." She nodded and disappeared around the corner.

James sighed and glanced at his bag, seeing the Marauder's Map safely nestled inside, glad he'd brought it along. Pulling it out, he hissed, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good!" It opened up, and James inspected it. Nobody was near the fourth floor. Wiping the map clean, he stowed it away and headed for the fourth floor – there was always a bag full of clothes behind that mirror, just in case.

When Lily came there, dressed in jeans and a black sweater to ward off a chill, the mirror opened, revealing a madly grinning and vaguely filthy James. "Quick! Before anybody see us." He whisked her inside, and shut the mirror. Lily blinked around the filthy passage.

"How did you manage to discover this place?"

"You'd be surprised what Sirius discovers through trial and error," James said, grinning cheekily. An idea occurred to him, and he quickly held out his hand. "Here – it gets dark, and I'd hate for you to get lost."

"I don't think so," Lily replied woodenly, although a tiny smile was on her face. "I'm not falling for that." James's face fell, and she laughed, patting his shoulder. "Nice try, though. Come on, then – we'll need to get back before dinner."

"We could just have dinner in Hogsmeade," James began, but she'd already started off down the passage, leaving him no choice but to follow.

Once they reached Hogsmeade (by climbing into the abandoned house at the end of the street – for that was where the passage led to – and then creeping out the back door and walking down the street as though they'd always been there), Lily began peruse the windows, pulling her sweater tighter around her to keep warm.

James was looking towards the Post Office every few moments as Lily's breath misted the window of Scrivenshaft's. "He's got plenty of quills," James blurted before thinking. Lily straightened up and glanced at him. "Just thought you might like to know," he added, his cheeks red.

"Oh. Well, thanks, I suppose." She moved on, peering into windows as before.

"You could try Zonko's," James suggested first, then thinking that Zonko's would be a more appropriate place for Sirius or himself. "Or Honeydukes – Remus likes chocolate."

"No, everyone will get him candy if they don't know what else to get," Lily said, shaking her head. Her eyes lit on Gladrags Wizardwear – James nearly groaned. Whenever a girl got that look in her eyes, it suggested he was in for a long evening of trying on clothes and questions like, "Does this make me look fat?" On the other hand, Lily was no ordinary girl, and she was not looking for herself, so whether the pink taffeta gown in the window made her look fat or not was irrelevant. (Besides, it was a hideous dress and she would look absolutely horrid in it, James privately thought – it wasn't her color at all).

"Let's go there!" Lily raced ahead, her red hair flying out behind her. James sighed, and followed her inside.

To James's surprise, the next hour they spent in the store was actually quite enjoyable. Or, at least, it was not so painful as shopping with his mother, Janine's mother, and Janine herself – after all, Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Garnet had the most annoying tendency to coo over every one of Janine's selections. And, of course, they all insisted on asking James's opinion, although he had a feeling that Janine asked purely to see the look of pain on his face, if her twinkling eyes were anything to judge by.

First she picked out a sweater – a bright red one, one that James was nearly certain Remus would never so much as go near – and then Lily held up the most ludicrous socks she could pick out, and then giggled at their maddening antics, before proceeding to buy them. "They'll keep his feet warm," she explained. "Besides. Did you ever notice that all his socks have holes in them?"

James blinked. "No, I've never noticed that. And he's a wizard, not a bloody house elf. You don't need to get him clothes."

Lily scowled. "House elves. Honestly. More like slaves, if you ask me."

"Lily-"

"Thank you," Lily said to the clerk, before tucking the wrapped box of socks in with her other purchases – she had bought a few things for herself. "You know, I really could do with a bit of chocolate from Honeydukes. And since we're here…"

"Say no more, fair damsel." James opened the door and bowed to her. Lily rolled her eyes but thanked him nonetheless, before quickly hurrying on to Honeydukes. The sun was already beginning to set.

When Lily had finished in Honeydukes (a good hour or two later) it was very dark, and James was mournfully thinking of dinner in the Great Hall. "Er… are we done yet?" he asked.

"Yes, I suppose so," she said at last, looking at her packages. "What time is it?"

"Just past seven."

"Seven?" Lily grimaced. "Oh, bloody hell. We've missed dinner."

"Yes," said James, with a rather woebegone expression. "Yes, I know." Then his eyes lit up. "We could to the Three Broomsticks and get Butterbeers and dinner!"

Lily was giving him a suspicious look.

"Not as a date, or anything," he added hastily. "And I need to stop by the post office and send these off."

She sighed. "Fine, let's do that first. And if nothing else, we can get some Butterbeers from Madam Rosmerta."

After James had carefully selected some none-too-conspicuous owls and sent them off, he and Lily wandered into the Three Broomsticks. To Lily's surprise, the very pretty bartender greeted them herself, a devilish twinkle in her eyes. "Bringing another lady friend, James?"

Lily scowled at James, who had his hands stuffed into his pockets, a ruddy blush across his cheeks. "I'm not a – er, a lady friend of his," she explained shortly. "I'm just a…" She searched for a word. "We ran into each other here," she finally finished. "We're not dating or anything."

Madam Rosmerta nodded, although her eyes were still twinkling and she seemed to be giving them both a knowing smile. Lily suddenly thought back to her first year, of a pretty, flirtatious, curvaceous seventh year, with masses of curly blond hair and sparkling hazel eyes. Even five years hadn't changed her much at all. Lily found herself smiling back.

"So you're here for a bite to eat, are you, then? Well, I don't know – students out of school and all that, I ought to tell the Headmaster…" She smirked when James gave her a pained expression, and then laughed. "Oh, James Potter, I don't know what to do with you! Come on, then – a booth for you and your non-lady friend. What's your name, by the way?" Rosmerta smiled at Lily.

Lily smiled back again. "Lily Evans."

"Lily Evans! Fancy that. I remember you as a first year. You were adorable. A Gryffindor, right?" She nodded. "I was a Ravenclaw myself," she mused, tapping her mouth with a finger. "Well, come on then – let's get you two fed so you can sneak back to school before anybody realizes you're missing!"

"Er… not that I'm complaining, or anything, but shouldn't you be sending students back if they're out when they're not supposed to be?"

"Well, yes, I should – especially in such times – but it is more business, and besides, none of the townsfolk ever send them back. Besides," she added, showing them to a booth, "I used to sneak out myself. Wouldn't be fair to punish others for something I never got punished for, would it?" She laughed again, and pushed Lily and James into a seat. "The usual, I suppose," she shot in James's direction.

"That'd be great, yeah." Rosmerta sauntered away, and James caught Lily's slightly suspicious look. "What?"

"What is 'the usual' supposed to mean?"

"Food that is very resemblant of Hogwarts's," he explained promptly.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh, for heaven's sake. Resemblant isn't a word."

"Is so."

"Is not. Go look it up in a dictionary. It doesn't exist."

"Yes it does!"

"No it doesn't!"

"What doesn't?" Madam Rosmerta set a tray on the table – laden with food that was like Hogwarts, and two steaming mugs of Butterbeer.

"Resemblant. It isn't a word."

She paused, looking thoughtful. "No, I don't think it is."

"Ha!"

"Sirius told me it's a word," mumbled James.

"And you believed him?" Lily demanded incredulously in smile. Madam Rosmerta just shook her head in amusement and sauntered away, winking at James as he shouted after her, "Thanks Rosie!" He eagerly dug into the food, whereas Lily ate in a more detached manner.

They didn't talk much throughout the meal – but when it was finished, James offered her a wide grin. "See? We had a pleasant dinner together. Do you honestly believe dating me could be all that bad after this?"

"Yes." His grin vanished. "Honestly, Potter. We walked in, spoke to Madam Rosmerta – and cleared up that I was not a lady friend or even a remote friend of yours – and then argued whether or not resemblant was a word – which it is not, by the way. And then we ate. Without talking. That hardly qualifies as a date."

"We could try it out to see how bad it would be."

"Or we could just accept that you and I as a couple will happen when pigs fly," she replied in a tone that brooked no room for argument. She sighed. "Give up, James. A date requires us to have a conversation – a pleasant one, not a formal and polite one, but for us to really talk. That is not something I can do with you. It isn't even worth trying."

He gave her a woebegone look. "You're really set in thinking that I'm prat, aren't you?"

"I do not think you are a prat, Potter. I know it. Are you going to pay Madam Rosmerta, or am I going to have to?"

He shrugged and stood up, offering her a hand despite her firm refusal that they'd ever be a couple. "She'll put it on my tab."

"It does not surprise me that you have a tab here," Lily remarked, ignoring the hand and picking up her sweater. "Let's get back to the castle, Potter. Everyone will be wondering where we are." He gave her a sad smile. "Don't look so miserable," she said encouragingly. "I've gotten to know you better in the last few weeks than I ever have. If you'd just stop flirting and pressing this dating-thing, we could even be friends. Until then…" she shrugged. "We remain as we are."

"Oh."

"So show me the way back to the castle," she ordered, and he did.

Lily had known that her disappearance would probably be speculated upon – she could probably convinced one of her friends to make up a convincing alibi for her.

How very wrong she was.

"Hello," Janine said in her coyest voice, one which Lily was most assuredly not fond of. "Funny. Where we you at dinner?"

"Out," she replied without a hesitation. "And what's funny?"

"Nothing," Alyssa said in a singsong voice, smirking. "Just that you and James walked into the common room at the same time."

"And you were both missing at dinner. For that matter, you disappeared right after classes. At the same time," added Marlene.

"In fact, you were both missing our little planning part in the Come and Go room," finished Jen. "Which is decidedly odd, because you, Lily Evans, do not miss anything, not for anything or anyone. Unless, as is now demonstrated by your skiving off, that person is James Potter."

"You're all mental," replied Lily coolly. "If you really must know, I had to go to Hogsmeade. To get a birthday present for Remus, seeing as, well, you know, his birthday is tomorrow. Innocent shopping excursion."

"It would be," replied Janine.

"Except that it's not like you to leave school without permission, and you most certainly didn't have permission," added Jen.

"Which means that you went without permission."

"Which means you must have snuck out."

"And we all know that James knows more secret passages out of the school than anyone," Alyssa murmured. "And seeing as he was gone…"

"We must infer that you have given into his seeming charm and wit, and are now dating him," explained Janine.

"So we've told everyone that you are, you know. Dating him, that is," finished Jen with a triumphant smile. "And that you've been visiting Hogsmeade on the sly and returning late at night."

"And that we've got pictures of you two snogging in the broom closet, and we'll sell them to anyone who doesn't believe it."

Lily's mouth had opened from the moment Jen had last spoken. Janine and Jen seemed to be the worst of the lot, although Marlene and Alyssa were both grinning widely. Lily smirked when Janine said they'd got pictures. "Except I have most definitely not been snogging Potter in broom closets, so you could not have any pictures."

"Except that since we've told people that we have got pictures, they all believe it now. So we don't have to show any would-be doubters, because we've staved them off." Lily's smirk vanished. Her dormmates and friends (soon to be ex-friends, if her expression was anything to judge by) were all grinning like madwomen.

"I hate you all," Lily said flatly, dropping her bag of purchases, seizing a nearby pillow, and flinging it as hard as she could at Alyssa, who ducked and allowed it to hit Marlene. Jen doubled over with laughter. "Every – last – one – of you!" she added, seizing more pillows from nearby beds and throwing them.

When Sirius later left his dorm for a midnight snack, followed by Peter, he noted the suspicious feathers that seemed to be trailing from the girls' dorm. He glanced at Peter, who shrugged cluelessly. Then he himself shrugged, and they headed for the kitchens. They'd find out what was going on later.

X-X-X-X-X

Saturday evening, Remus found the common room suspiciously empty, with the exception of Janine, who sat curled up in a squishy armchair, her book open in her lap. "Where is everyone? And what have you been reading for the last week, anyway?" Remus sat in front of her and craned his neck, trying to see her book.

Janine glanced up, and began to speak in an eloquent voice that didn't quite fit her. "I had it of him: pardon me, Bassanio; / For, by this ring the doctor lay with me."

Remus cocked his head. "The Merchant of Venice, Act V. Right?"

Janine looked impressed. "How do you remember that?"

"Read it loads of times. Since when do you read Shakespeare, anyway?"

"Since Lily and I made a deal – I read Shakespeare, she reads Cyrus Rutherford."

"Cyrus Rutherford? You mean those trashy romance novels about the fellow who goes around saving women and then ravishing them?" Remus looked perturbed. "Lily never struck me as that sort of girl."

"You never struck me as that sort of boy, but you know who Cyrus Rutherford is. If I said that to Sirius, he'd say, 'Cyrus who?'"

"Yes, he probably would. And I found the book in Flourish Blotts while looking for something new to read at the start of the year. Absolute rubbish, by the way."

"It is not!" Her eyes gleamed dangerously. "Wait here for me, would you? I have to run up and get something and put this away." Remus blinked as she was gone in a flash. Within two minutes, she'd returned, flushed and clutching her school bag. Remus looked at it suspiciously.

"What's that for?"

"Need to return a few books to the library," she replied smoothly, patting it to make sure it was closed. Remus smirked.

"You mean you've actually been to the library? You actually know where it is?"

"Oh, you're so witty. Look at me, I'm in hysterics because of your wit. Oh, wait, no I'm not." Janine made a face, and then added loftily, "And I'll have you know that it's an excellent place for-"

"-Studying?"

"-Snogging." Janine smirked. "Well, come on then."

"Come on where? I never said I was going with you."

"Well, you are now."

"But where is everyone-" Janine grabbed hold of his arm and towed him out the door.

Remus allowed himself to be dragged along for ten minutes, before saying at last, "Er… you do know this isn't the way to the library, right?"

"I'm taking the scenic route," she replied airily, still with a vice-like grip on Remus's wrist. He looked up curiously as they passed a hideous painting. Scenic. Right. She finally stopped before a tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy – walked past it three times – and then a door appeared. Remus blinked.

"Hey! This is the Come and Go room! How did you know about it?"

"I found it while hiding from Lily when she was in one of her moods," replied Janine, in the same airy tone. "And I left something in here the last time I went by, so…"

She pushed the door open – Remus started. The entire room was dark, save for Janine's now-lit wand. He looked around. "What the hell is-"

"SURPRISE!"

Remus fell backwards, jerking his wrist from Janine's grip, as lights flooded the room and several people leapt out at Remus – notably James, Sirius, and Peter. He whirled on Janine. "You said you'd left something in here!"

"Well, I did. I'd left a party. Aren't you glad I brought you along?"

"Moony, you great prat," Sirius exclaimed, thumping him on the shoulder. "It's your bloody birthday!"

"I – oh. Yeah. I… I forgot." He flushed. "Oops?"

"Oops, he says." James was grinning. "How d'you manage to forget your birthday? Pass up an opportunity for extra presents?"

Remus smiled. "Birthdays aren't all about presents, James."

" 'Course they are," retorted Peter. "Speaking of which – what d'you want first? Presents or cake?"

Remus shuddered when he saw Jen and Marlene step forward, bearing a large, chocolate-iced cake. It had red and gold candles, and was slightly lopsided. He got the impression that his friends had made it themselves, rather than ask the house-elves for help, and was touched. "Cake. Definitely cake."

"Good!" Sirius jumped forward with a knife – the girls squeaked and backed away. Fortunately, Lily was still the smartest of them all and managed to levitate it just before it hit the ground. Janine smirked.

"We made it. Except for Lily and James, that is. They were – ahem – off on their little date." Lily gave her friend a look that would have sent Remus scurrying in the opposite direction, but Janine smiled sweetly. A halo popped up over her head – Remus turned his head and saw Sirius pointing his wand at her. He snorted and snatched the knife from Sirius.

"Like we're going to trust a nutter with sharp objects," he teased.

"Then I had better take that back from you, eh?" He reached for it; Remus leapt back, brandishing the knife wildly.

"Lupin!" Lily's eyes were reproachful. "You ought to know better than to wave a sharp knife about."

"Don't fuss, Lil – if anybody gets cut, we'll just patch it up later." Janine's eyes were cheerful. "Well, come on then – cut the cake so we can eat!" Remus grinned and held the knife aloft.

As one, the group backed away. He burst into laughter.

"I'm not Sirius, you know."

Sirius pretended to be hurt. "Ah, Sir Moony, your words wound me. I am offended." He scowled fiercely. "I believe I will have to avenge that insult… tonight."

"I don't even want to know what that means," Janine grumbled. "Are you going to cut it, or not?"

Remus rolled his eyes and stepped forward again. The group took one step backwards. Rolling his eyes once more, he set the knife gently into the cake and cut the first piece, handing it with a flourish to Lily, who stood closest. The group began to sing for him – he blushed brightly as James's deep voice and Sirius's falsetto soared above everyone else's.

"For he's a jolly good fellow… for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fe-ellow… WHICH NOBODY CAN DENYYYYYYYY!"

Several hours later, many of the guests – the acquaintances, anyway – had left. The people left were Remus's closest friends, along with Alexia, Joanne, most of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, as well as Fabian Prewett. If it occurred to Remus that a great number of the people present were closer to his friends than to him, he didn't comment on it.

Remus had found himself with a large hoard of chocolate – which Sirius was eyeing greedily, and he immediately resolved to lock it all in his trunk and keep the key within sight at all times, although Sirius, being Sirius, would probably find a way around it anyway – and now his remaining friends were each vying for him to open their gift first.

Just to be polite, he chose Alexia's first. She smiled cheerfully as he opened it. He whistled slightly when he did – it was an painting, framed by a simple wooden frame with the inscription carved in – To Remus, from Alexia, with love. He whistled again. It was a very detailed picture of Hogwarts, with the sun setting behind the castle. "Where'd you get this?"

Alexia's cheeks were flaming. "I, er… I did it myself."

Remus gave her a wide smile. "It's fantastic! You have a lot of talent, you know." It occurred to him that he was speaking to his girlfriend, and that he ought to at least kiss her, or something, so he gave her a very chaste kiss on the cheek, causing her to glow with pleasure. He missed the look of wrath that Jen sent his way; Sirius snorted loudly and stuffed his fist into his mouth to stifle it. The moment had passed, however, as he recovered quickly, shouting, "Me next!"

Sirius fairly stuffed his present up Remus's nose, shaking all over with suppressed excitement. Remus took it warily, opening it slowly. He finished unwrapping it – and due to Sirius's very elaborate wrapping, that took quite a while – and flushed furiously when it was opened. "What is it?" Janine asked curiously.

"Some new reading material," mumbled Remus with a flush, and gave Sirius a proper scowl to let him know what he thought of friends who got other friends Playwizard for their birthday, particularly when females were in the room. James and Peter seemed to know about this present, however, and were both giving him wide grins. Remus shoved the cover back onto the gift and resolved to also lock these in the trunk and ascertain that nobody ever found them.

Although Sirius and James would probably beg him to let them borrow the magazines next week – provided they didn't have their own personal sets, that is.

His other presents were slightly more satisfactory – and less embarrassing, too. James had given him a large silken top hat that he had immediately jammed onto his head – and immediately regretted it, as it changed into a large, floppy-eared rabbit with a large POP a minute later, causing everyone to laugh – and Peter gave him a Magic Eight Ball. Except that it was really magical, this time – "My dad charmed it," Peter explained with a grin. Naturally, this gift made no sense to all the purebloods in the room, and Janine, Jen, James, and Sirius spent the next fifteen minutes trying to figure out what it did while Alyssa calmly (and intelligently) asked Lily to explain it to her. (Lily, of course, knew precisely what it was).

Janine had given him a wine red journal and a fabulous set of eagle quills (here, Lily had given James a sharp look, and Remus wondered why). Jen had given him a magical Bertie Bott's dispenser that seemed to require him to put a Knut in every time he wanted six beans – where the Knuts went, he had no idea. Jen grinned at him and advised him to read the instructions manual, which he tucked into his pocket. (He later realized that the instructions manual was entirely in German, which did him no good. He resolved to ask Peter, who was quite good at taking apart things and putting them back together, to take it apart and explain it to him.)

Alyssa had shyly handed him a luxury set of parchment; Jo had given him a beautiful picture frame. Marlene had handed him a stuffed dragon (which blew fake fire at Sirius, who grouchily demanded if she thought Remus was a child to give him a stuffed toy, while Remus resolved to set this dragon to guarding his new chocolate hoard), Lily had given him a large set of the most interesting socks she could find, and a bright red jumper (even brighter than a Gryffindor red) that caused James to snicker until Remus immediately pulled it over his head (here, he scowled at Lily, who gave him a superior look).

The other gifts were just as nice, if not nearly so personal. Remus found himself with an even larger hoard of chocolate now – although Sirius had immediately started in on it, which meant it would be all gone before the hour was up. One by one, his friends drifted out, leaving behind, after a time, only James, Sirius, and Peter.

"Let's leave the stuff here," suggested Sirius with a large yawn. "For the house-elves; they'll get it. I'm beat. All that partying…"

"Partying? Is that what they're calling it now?" Sirius glanced at Remus, who was smirking. "I was under the impression that you were trying to chat up every girl in the room. Including my girlfriend." His smile faded a bit at that.

"Yes, your girlfriend." Sirius was giving him a very shrewd look. "Nice kiss you gave her, by the way. Almost the way I'd give a kiss to my sister."

"Except you don't have a sister," Remus snapped. "What's your point?"

"You don't seem very… er… boyfriend-ish. Just observing," James added hastily when Remus glowered at him. "Come on now, Moony, you've got to admit – didn't you see the look Jen was giving you?"

"No," he replied shortly, wishing the floor would swallow him up. He felt bad for snapping at his friends – they had thrown him a party, of course – but this was possibly the last thing on his list of things he wanted to talk about.

"Look of death," remarked Peter, who know had Remus's pet rabbit in his hands (it had stopped changing and seemed to like Peter a great deal). "I swear, I though she was going to claw your eyes out. Yours and Walsh's."

"Wonder why," Remus began lamely, but Sirius was now fixing him with charcoal gray eyes.

"Something happened," he guessed. Remus didn't respond, and Sirius leapt up with a loud cry of, "Ha! Something did happen! Spill it."

"Nothing happen," he mumbled under his breath.

"She kissed you, didn't she? Good God, King has a lot more courage than I'd give her courage for! When was it?"

"Library. You guys were… planning this, I suppose. And Jen had dragged me off to help her with Potions, knowing very well that I'm terrible at it. Bad cover story, by the way. I suppose you suggested it, didn't you?"

His attempt to subtly steer away from the topic did not work. "Nah, James did. So. Is she any good? Never kissed her before, myself. Kissed all the others, though. Not Lily – oh, wait, yes, I have, haven't I? New Year's." He grinned suddenly. "Bloody hell, I'm a stud!"

"Er, right," Peter muttered, clearing his throat. "She's fancied you for ages, mate. Although it takes a certain amount of courage to kiss a guy just like that."

"Yeah," Remus mumbled, flushing. "So, can we not talk about it? It's sort of embarrassing."

"Yeah, yeah." James was glowering at the mention of Sirius's kiss with Lily, and distractedly ran his hand through his hair. "Take off the sweater, Remus," he ordered suddenly. "It looks stupid."

Remus stared. "What? Lily gave it to me; I'm not taking it off. I like it."

"It's a girl's color."

"Hello? It's red! Color of our house!"

"No, the color of our house is… red. That's like… cherry red. It's a girl's color. Take it off, Moony. You look like a poof."

"Shut up." Remus crossed his arms over his chest adamantly. "I'm not taking it off," he threatened. "I like it."

"Fine. Far be it from me to try and sway you. But when everybody begins to question your manhood…" Remus lunged for James, but Sirius quickly averted disaster by knocking Remus to the floor and sitting on his stomach. He grinned down at his friend.

"Want to try that particular maneuver again?" Remus shook his head. "Good." Sirius didn't get up.

Remus's voice was dry as he remarked, "After all, why would I need anyone to question my manhood based on my clothes? You're sitting on me. They already do question it."

"Alas, our secret is uncovered!" Sirius grinned at Remus in a way that clear said, don't-you-know-it, and Remus shifted uncomfortably, before rolling over and throwing Sirius's weight off of him. He sat up, rubbing his face to hide his red cheeks. Sirius was still grinning.

An awkward silence pervaded the room, with both Peter and James trying to figure out what had thrown the balance off. Finally, Peter cleared his throat. "Well, come on, lads. Lots of things to do before tomorrow. Back to the dorm, eh?"

Remus nodded. It was tradition for the boys to plan an explosion of pranks, the day after one of their birthdays – so much of an explosion that there was a certain tendency to skirt the four when encountered in the hall. But the Marauders were smart, and they targeted specific people.

Which meant that Severus Snape was going to have a very bad day upcoming.

X-X-X-X-X

A/N: Hello wonderful people, I'm back! Yes, I know it's been forever and I'm sorry. (Sort of). Been busy, still am, so I'll update when I can. I REALLY want to finish this story – or at least get to their post-Hogwarts years if nothing else. See, since HP and HBP is coming out in July… well, I wanted to write a story about Harry's sixth and seventh year going off this one, and I might still do that, but I haven't fully decided if I will or not. I realize that that story is a LONG ways off, but I need your opinions – do you want me to write it, or not? Because it will change the direction of this story – ever so slightly, anyway.

Okay, so I said it was under revision, right? Well, it was, and I'm pretty sure I'm done, though I may have missed a thing or two. The main thing that changed is the Whomping Willow scene – the changes start around Chapter 5 and go up until maybe Chapter 8 or 9, can't remember. THAT I suggest you reread, because it's changed part of the story. And Sirius's eyes are gray; Janine's are blue. I haven't made all the changes I wanted to, so be on the lookout for updates, but I've made most of them so now I'm back on track.

I personally am not happy with this chapter – I thought it was boring. But it does kind of set up a sort of sub-plot about two people in this chapter (I'll leave you guessing who) that I won't explore really deeply, but I will explore a little. So anyway.

I won't tell you what's upcoming, because I don't know yet. Thanks for your reviews, and keep 'em coming please!

And leave your ideas on whether or not to write a story like the one mentioned above in your reviews, please. Muchas gracias.

And don't worry. If nothing else, I will see this story to the end.

Love you all, xoxo - Peaches