Sirius seemed to get over Alex quickly. This was probably aided by the swarms of girls who felt it necessary to comfort him after news of his break-up spread through the castle.

James, on the other hand, was avoiding Narcissa like the plague. It wasn't that he didn't like her, because he did, just not like that. "I just don't think I'm ready for a girlfriend," he had lied to her one day, whilst thinking 'not that I want to be like Sirius.'

Instead, he was more concerned with establishing himself and his friends as the chief pranksters of the school. An achievement which came quickly, despite Peter's bumbling antics. As the last prankster's, "If you could call them that, all they did was a bit of old-style magic," Sirius had commented dryly, had left the previous year, their spot was open. All it took was a few dung bombs and disruptive spells and the boys were on the top. No distractions from the girls made it easier (James could not work out why Lily had suddenly stopped talking to him. After a couple of weeks he had given up trying to work it.)

A couple of days before Halloween the boys were sat in the Common Room talking about their latest act of trickery.

"Did you see the look on his face?" Peter squeaked for the fifth time.

"No," Remus said sarcastically, his patience with Peter diminishing quickly. "We missed it. We've just been laughing at the cracks in the wall for the past half-hour."

"Oh," said Peter, believing him completely.

James and Sirius laughed harder at his acceptance.

"Honestly, Pete," Sirius advised him. "Don't be so wet. Of course we saw him."

"Oh," Peter repeated, causing Remus to roll his eyes.

James intervened before anything could start. He passed bottles around the group, bottles they had been graciously handed at the kitchens.

"Here," he said quickly. "A toast to…" It occurred to him they didn't have a name for themselves. "The Marauders," he finished, looking at the smiling looks of approval from his friends.

He was startled by the hollow laughter coming from behind him. He turned around to see Alex putting her quill onto the table at which she sat.

"The Marauders," she repeated. "What kind of stupid name is that?"

James hadn't seen her much lately and was surprised by what he saw now. Her hazel eyes were sunken, dark rings framed them. Her, now half-way down the back, hair, had lost its once healthy appearance. It was, instead, a dull brown, limp and roughly tied up. James was speechless as, it seemed, was Sirius. It was Peter who jumped in and spoke up for them.

"It's not stupid," he squeaked angrily. "It gives us an edge, sets us apart from the rest of you. Plus, it doesn't just define who we are – it's catchy too."

Alex giggled, her usual cheeriness returning momentarily.

"Oh, it's catchy alright," she said as she gathered up her things. "Like the flu." With that she stood and walked away.

James broke into a grin, seeing the old short-tempered Alex again. He joined in with Remus and Sirius' jovial back-slapping of Peter, who was positively beaming.

"Good one, Pete," he laughed.

--------

"Where is it?" Lily moaned as she crawled on all fours around the dormitory floor. Around her was complete chaos. Robes and clothes lay strewn on the floor. Books, parchment and quills lay open and discarded. Somewhere, she knew, was a smashed bottle of ink. Pulling her bed sheets up and finding under her bed empty apart from a half-used bottle of nail varnish and a few dust ball, Lily gave a frustrated groan. "Where is it?" She repeated.

The only place she hadn't looked was behind her trunk, and though she doubted it would be there, Lily pulled it out anyway. True to form, there was nothing there, except a piece of parchment addressed to her. Forgetting her quest, Lily sat on her bed and read the letter.

Lily,

I hope everything's going OK for you. Your friends sound absolutely delightful. You must invite Alex back with you at Christmas; we'd love to meet her. And James, well he sounds like a sweetheart, but you don't want to be thinking about getting a boyfriend just yet. You're too young.

No, have fun and keep focussed on you studies, there'll be plenty of time for boyfriends later.

Tell me, what do you do in your spare time? I'm sure you don't spend all your time in lessons.

Daddy says he can't wait to see you again, and Petunia sends her love.

All the hugs and kisses in the world,

Mum.

X o x o X

Lily smiled between her tears. She knew neither her father nor her sister would have said such a thing; her father wouldn't like to show his feelings and her sister hated her too much to send love. But it was nice to think of them saying such things, to think of her family.

Another thought occurred, when had she received that? She searched the letter and found, there in the top right corner, her mothers small, delicate numbers. 4th October? But that was weeks ago.

Immediately Lily wrote a reply.

Mum,

I know it's taken me a long time to right back; I've just been really busy. You wouldn't believe the stuff we've been doing. A couple of weeks ago I was actually flying – On a broomstick! Can you believe it? I was doing quite well until I realised I was 27 feet in the air, I panicked and nearly crashed. I haven't been on again since.

We've got a big feast coming up in a couple of days, to celebrate Halloween. I'm looking forward to it but I'm hoping they don't force us to sit next to people. Knowing my luck I'll get stuck next to James…

Speaking of which. He's not a sweetheart. I don't know why I ever became friends with him in the first place. And I especially wouldn't want to go out with him. He's so full of himself. I don't know why you would think I fancy him.

I can't wait until Christmas, it'll be great to see you all again. I'll ask Alex about it.

Lily.

Re-reading the letter she had received, Lily smiled at her mothers words, "Have fun, there'll be plenty of time for boyfriends later." How strange that her mother could still comfort her without actually being there, knowing what was going on.

Wrapped up in thoughts of plans for both herself and Alex, Lily didn't notice that Alex was in the room until she spoke.

"You'll never guess what…Lily, what did you do?" she asked, dropping her books at the sight around her. Since breaking up with Sirius, Alex had become obsessed with keeping the room tidy, "a distraction," Alice Howard, a fellow first year Gryffindor, had called it in a conversation with Lily.

"Huh?" Lily looked around the room, slightly dazed until she realised the dormitory was still a mess. "Oh, yeah," she murmured sheepishly. "I was looking for my Potions book."

"You mean this one?" Alex asked pulling the book from the pile she had dropped. "I kind of borrowed it to do my own homework. Sorry." She looked just as sheepish as Lily had sounded.

Lily grabbed the book, "Als!" She exclaimed, reaching for her wand. "Never mind. Scourgify," she waved her wand, sensing, rather than hearing, Alex's relief as the room became immaculate once more.

"Oh, good," she muttered, joining Lily on her bed. Bouncing with the excitement of a child with a secret they just had to share, Alex continued. "OK, so back to what I came up here for. You'll never guess what they've done now." She left no time for Lily to speak, only frown. "They've only gone and given themselves a name."

Lily's frown deepened. "Who are they?"

Alex rolled her gleeful eyes, "Duh. James and co." She was taking great care in making sure she didn't speak Sirius' name. "They've called themselves, get this; 'The Marauders'." Alex burst into fits of laughter, after a momentary pause, Lily joined in.

"They really are a bunch of…Words don't even describe." Lily breathed. Standing up, she took her letter and dragged Alex to the door.

"Where are we going?" Alex asked clueless, and more than a little surprised.

"Owlery," Lily said clearly, making a pointed effort not to look at the Marauders as they passed through the Common Room.

They were half way there when Alex asked why she needed to go with her.

"Because," answered Lily cryptically. "I have a plan to get us to stop moping. No more tears over James and Sirius. They move on, we move on."

Alex just nodded as she listened to Lily.