Author's Notes: The plot and back stories are mine. All else belongs to a woman by the name of JK Rowling. You might've have heard of her.

The Ebony Files

Chapter One: Lily's Note

September 1st, 1977

Platform 9 and 3/4, King's Cross Station, London

I glanced down at my watch. Eight minutes until the Hogwarts Express was due to depart from Platform 9 and 3/4, and still no sign of James Potter or Sirius Black.

Sighing, I scanned the bustling crowd around me one last time before deciding to give up my fruitless search. At least now you can go ahead and stake out a compartment that's not too close to the toilets, I tried to reason with my disappointment.

I bent down to grab the handles of my luggage, which consisted of two large, rather battered suitcases. One was filled with clothes and toiletries. The other, books.

As I straightened myself up, a familiar voice reached my ears.

"Oy, over there, it's him! James, you stupid cow, I told you he would be here -"

I turned around to see two tall figures running toward me at full speed, getting closer by the second - too close - oh no, this really wasn't the time -

And before I knew it, they were upon me, knocking the wind out of my breath (as well as the luggage from my hands). I was instantly pulled into a sort of backbreaking embrace, but I felt more like a human toothpaste tube whose contents were slowly being forced out. I cringed as nearby heads turned our way -

"Remus, mate!" came the joyous voice of Sirius Black, though I was too preoccupied with trying to breathe than to reply.

"How've you been, Moony?" asked James, unaware that his arm was cutting off the circulation in my chest -

"Being - strangled - alive - by - two - great - idiots -" I managed to choke out.

"Oh. Right." Sirius grinned as he and James released me. I shot them very dirty looks while taking a moment to recollect my breath.

"We're sorry," James said seriously as he picked up my suitcases and shoved one to Sirius (I suspected it was the one filled with books, as Sirius grunted upon receiving it). "We don't want you to die. Really. I mean, without you, Moony, who then would give us excruciatingly long and painful lectures about the dangers of setting Snape's robes on fire? Why, gee whiz, we'd just never manage without you!"

"Ha ha," I rolled my eyes irritably. "You're hilarious."

"But really now, be reasonable. You can't blame us for our affection." Sirius grinned, swinging one long arm around my shoulder. "James here and I can't resist you. In fact, we almost went mad from not seeing our favorite werewo-"

"Sirius!" James interjected in a stern voice, motioning at all the people who were staring at our little trio.

"Er - our favorite - er - person who grew his hair out over the summer!" Sirius ended his speech rather lamely. James sniggered.

My hand unconsciously reached up to touch my hair, which I had indeed left to occupy the majority of my head for the past two months. Before the summer, I'd always been clean-cut, good-boy Remus. But while on vacation, I had let it grow a bit and discovered that I liked the feel of bangs in my eyes and the brush of feather-light strands on my neck. It made me feel a little more secretive.

"Come on, Moony," Sirius' voice snapped me back to attention. "The Express is gonna leave any second now. We've got a compartment already, those dumb First Years practically set a record running out before James even got to threaten them with the Bat Bogey Hex."

I laughed aloud, the familiar warmth of being with my best friends filling my chest as the three of us boarded the scarlet train.

Having secured a compartment all to ourselves, we settled in quickly. James and I sat facing Sirius, who was sprawled out in his usual manner, lounging on the seat as if he owned it. The table between us was heaped with all sorts of replenishment from the lady with the food cart - Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, pumpkin pasties, a few puddings, flasks of pumpkin juice, cauldron cakes, and all other things sweet and fattening and not recommended to consume in large quantities by dentists. This was, of course, all courtesy of Sirius' generous wealth, one of the many characteristics the Black lineage was famous for.

Sirius made use of his limitless money in many ways, from buying his friends extravagant Christmas presents to adorning himself in only the finest cloaks to just outright spending it on things he really did not have need for. It wasn't that he was particularly concerned with beautiful things - at least, not more concerned than most other teenagers...

The truth was, Sirius's overspending was an act of defiance to his family. It was a well-known fact that he despised his Black bloodline, which was infamous for its purity, its hereditary beauty and of course, its reputation for producing some of the most powerful witches and wizards ever to join the ranks of the Dark Lord. Sirius Black, however, was an anomaly in this. He loathed his parents from the moment he was born, and he didn't bother to conceal his resentful feelings, either. Sirius' most rebellious act took place over the past summer when he had outright refused to return home for the holidays. His furious, humiliated parents threatened to disown him, but luckily James' mum and dad, who'd always treated Sirius like a second son, took him in before anything disastrous could happen. They'd invited me too, and although it was a tempting offer to spend what would've been, without a doubt, an unforgettablesummer with James and Sirius, I'd opted to travel to France with my parents instead.

As if he'd read my mind, Sirius looked over and asked, "So Moony, comment était la France? La nourriture est incroyable, n'est pas?" (1)

"Ouais," I grinned. "Et beaucoup de jolies filles, aussi. Bon pour mes yeux." (2)

Sirius laughed. "Oui, elles sont-"

"Shut it, will you two?" James interrupted, annoyed. He didn't speak a word of French and therefore was always put into a bad mood whenever Sirius and I decided to converse en français.

It seemed to me, however, that speaking French was one of the few things James Potter couldn't do. He was good at pretty much everything else - he was smart, he was outgoing, he was popular, and he was one hell of a Quidditch player. For the sixth year in a row, James Potter's superb flying had secured Gryffindor the envied Quidditch Cup. Consequently, he had the admiration and respect of pretty much every single student in the school. He was also very well-known for the enmity that existed between him and Severus Snape, a Slytherin, and it wasn't exactly uncommon to see Severus and James hexing each other in the hallways while onlookers cheered the latter on.

James' popularity was only matched by that of his right hand man. Sirius Black was hot-tempered, rebellious and intelligent beyond belief. Those who knew him personally liked him for his sense of humor and boyish charm, and those who didn't know him admired him for his stunning looks - Sirius' sleek black hair, piercing blue eyes and lean, wiry build usually clad in black leather have actually caused girls to pass out when he walked down the hall - arrogant, admired and on top of his world.

Yet for all his charm and beauty, Sirius Black didn't take girls...well, seriously. Sure, he liked them - he flirted outrageously with pretty females at any given chance, enchanting them with his dazzling smile and casually touching their fingers or waists, but he never asked one out, nor did he accept any of the alarmingly large number of date invitations from those hopelessly smitten with him. Just last year, a rumor spread like wildfire throughout the school, and whispers that Sirius Black preferred boys surfaced. Many girls had actually cried at this - and the majority of the male students were greatly alarmed. James, Peter and I had expected Sirius to go into a rage when the rumor reached his ears, but to our great surprise, he laughed it off and after rejecting all eighteen boys who'd asked him out in the following month, the rumor faded...

Nobody was surprised when James Potter and Sirius Black became best friends a few months into the school year, bonding over their wicked senses of humor, shared love for troublemaking and their already-culminating groups of admirers. Between Sirius' good looks and James' extraordinary talent on the Quidditch field, the two friends quickly became the elite - princes of Hogwarts, if you will - with admirers and friends always close by. Peter Pettigrew and I, with our withdrawn personalities, were initially unnerved by James and Sirius, but eventually a steady friendship formed between us as we shared classes, meals and a dormitory.

Over the years, the four of us had become pretty well-known throughout the school, mostly due to James and Sirius' popularity. I was the introverted, brainy and often overlooked Marauder, but nevertheless I was very grateful for their friendships, which were sealed only two years ago when all three of my companions had mastered becoming Animagi. At will, James "Prongs" Potter could turn into a powerful stag, Sirius "Padfoot" Black into an enormous dog, and Peter, or "Wormtail", into a scrawny rat. In their animal forms, my friends could accompany me when I made my transformation into a dangerous werewolf at full moon each month - hence my nickname, "Moony".

"...yeah, I didn't see Pettigrew either." Sirius was saying as he thoughtfully bit the head off of a chocolate frog. "He probably forgot that school started today or something, the miserable bloke...Remus, honestly, I don't know how you put up with him."

"There's nothing wrong with Peter," I said indignantly.

"Well, sure, there's nothing wrong with him," James smirked arrogantly. "But with him asking you for homework help every waking moment... one of these days, I'm going to lose it and hex him into silence."

I was about to voice a protest to this sadistic idea when a glint of metal suddenly caught my eye. A glint that looked very familiar -

"James, what's that in your hand?" I asked. Sirius gave a little smirk as we both turned around.

"What? Oh, this. It's my Head Boy badge." James said these words casually, but there was a definite trace of pride in his tone - and a rare pink flush to his cheeks.

But Sirius' jeering smile was now replaced by a frown. "Say, Remus, weren't you going to be Head Boy? I mean, you were made prefect, and you're easily the smartest in our year-"

I suddenly felt very uncomfortable, but Sirius and James were now both looking curiously at me. I swallowed.

"Well, yeah, Dumbledore offered it to me a while ago, but I didn't really want to do, you know, keep having to tell you guys to stop breaking the rules and stuff..." I trailed off.

In actuality, the decision had been tough - serving as Head Boy was a privilege that many people could only dream of, and Albus Dumbledore had not hid his disappointment when I'd declined the offer. But I knew that I couldn't continue to fight the battle between my conscience and my friends anymore, not after all the times James and Sirius exchanged impatient glances when I'd spoke out to stop them from doing something stupid. Or when they'd just gotten fed up and ignored my protests altogether.

James and Sirius didn't seem to notice my uneasiness and had resumed talking. Even though I knew I'd made the right choice, I couldn't quell the small waves of jealousy that coursed through me whenever I glanced at James' badge again.

A sound brought me out of my thoughts. The door to our compartment had slid open, and at the entrance stood a very pretty girl with long red hair and large green eyes. James sat up immediately, and in the process, knocked over a chocolate pudding, which landed on the floor with a loud splat. Lily Evans gave him a brief look of exasperation before pulling out her wand to clean it up.

"Have any of you guys got a copy of Hogwarts, A History that I could borrow?" she asked once she was done, tucking her wand back into her robes, where a silver badge identical to James' gleamed. "I just have to check up on something, I can return it to you at dinnertime," she added.

"I've got one," James said quickly, eager to redeem himself in the eyes of the girl he'd admired for four years now. Lily looked skeptical as he plunged into his bag and searched through his books. "What subject is this for again?" James asked after a few seconds, sounding a little disgruntled.

"It's not a required textbook for any subject," Lily said rather pointedly, her arms crossed.

"Then why the heck would you want it?" James frowned.

"Because," Lily said, "Some people actually enjoy reading." She turned towards me, her expression softer. "Hello, Remus. James is obviously clueless here and I don't even think Sirius can read," ("Hey!" Sirius objected) she said with a smile. "Would you happen to have a copy with you?"

"Yeah, sure," I said. I pulled out the old, tattered book from my suitcase and handed it to her. "Take your time."

"Thanks. I'll see you all later."

"Bye, Evans," James called hopefully.

The moment she stepped out, Sirius let out a low whistle. "Nice going, James. I reckon Lily was impressed beyond belief by your extraordinary ability to magically connect puddings with the ground."

James' face flushed scarlet.

"I'm not kidding, mate," Sirius continued in his casual manner. "You need to be a little more smooth than that."

"Look who's talking, Mr. I've-Turned-Down-Every-Wedding-Proposal-Made-By-Two-Thirds-Of-The-Entire-Female-Population," James retorted. "What do you know about girls?"

"That they're too complex and mentally unstable for me to deal with," Sirius replied coolly. "But it doesn't take a genius to figure that Lily isn't quite loving you." He fixed me with a sly look. "Now as for Remus here..."

James suddenly looked very alarmed at this thought. "Remus, you're not-"

"No." I said firmly.

"You've never-"

"Nope."

"She hasn't-"

"Uh-uh."

"You're sure you don't-"

"No! James, for the love of - we are not having this conversation," I said between clenched teeth.

Sirius was laughing, throwing his head back. I shot him a very ugly look, for it was he who'd brought the subject up in the first place. James still looked a little doubtful, but he decided not to pursue it anymore.

The truth was - I didn't really know how I felt about Lily Evans. We weren't exactly friends, but we were definitely more than just acquaintances. I admired her for her strong sense of ethics and morality. When other girls left their shirts buttoned low and pulled up their pleated skirts, Lily remained chaste and decent in her attire. When somebody was struggling in class, Lily made no hesitation to offer help. When somebody did her an injustice, like the time Severus called her a Mudblood because she was born to Muggle parents, Lily Evans remained levelheaded and dignified.

On the rare occasion, I found myself wondering Lily's soft hair would feel at my fingertips, how her hand would feel on mine. Of course, it was all stupid - I didn't like her in that way - and even if I did, I would never betray James in such a manner. But at the same time, her grace and beauty were so extraordinary, so unique, that sometimes I couldn't help but allow myself to dream...

Outside, it began to drizzle, then rain, then pour. The countryside scenery was no longer visible through the grey sheets of rain that lashed against the windows of our compartment. James and Sirius passed the remaining time through games of wizard chess, while I contented myself with a book (occasionally glancing up to help Sirius out of a check). A few minutes before the train stopped, we changed out of our Muggle clothing and into the traditional school uniform - button-down shirt, vest, tie, long pants, dress shoes, and of course, black robe.

We filed off the Hogwarts Express (I didn't want to think about the next time I'd be leaving the scarlet train) and made a mad dash for one of the large, horseless carriages waiting at Hogsmeade Station, the rain pounding down hard on us. Once we were all inside, the carriage began to move in line up a long, muddy pathway. Even though I'd been through this routine half a dozen themes before, I still felt strange as a passenger on a vehicle that had no visible source of fuel.

Sirius seemed to agree. "Weird, isn't it?" he muttered as we moved along. I nodded, staring out into the rain.

We arrived at the castle in no time, and before I knew it, I was making the familiar journey down the Great Hall to the Gryffindor table alongside my old classmates. Even the earsplitting cracks of lightning and booming thunder overhead could not drown out the animated chatter of a thousand students who had not seen each other over summer vacation. I exchanged greetings with a few friends and acquaintances before the hall fell silent, meaning the Sorting was about to begin. I watched the process intently, amused at the terrified expressions on the first years' faces. When at last, "Zinkley, Heather" had been declared as a Hufflepuff, the Headmaster stood up to deliver his welcoming speech.

Albus Dumbledore was an old wizard with an impressive beard and a long mane of grey hair, but his youthfulness and wry sense of humor were betrayed in those twinkling blue eyes. Many considered him to be the most powerful wizard in recent years - even more so than Voldemort. Dressed to the occasion in impressive purple robes covered in glimmering stars and standing erect at his full height, Albus Dumbledore instantly commanded the attention and respect of every single person in the hall.

"Welcome, first years, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he said, smiling broadly. "And for the rest of you, welcome back. I do hope each of you had a marvelous vacation, and I daresay you are all looking forward to homework and studying and all those stressful nights of no sleep," he said merrily, beard twitching. A few people laughed appreciatively. The fifth and seventh years, however, exchanged worried glances. Everybody had heard rumors of how tough O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s were...

"A few items of discussion, before our lovely feast is presented," Dumbledore continued. "As everybody should know by now, students are not to venture into the Forbidden Forest unless accompanied by an adult. Also, you may be surprised to hear that Madam Tinket has announced her retirement to spend the rest of her days with her great-grandchildren, so we have a new librarian. I am pleased to introduce Madam Pince, everybody!"

A middle-aged, severe-looking witch stood up and bowed as the hall filled with applause.

"Great, this means I can go back again!" Sirius whispered excitedly. The previous year, Sirius had been banned from the library for hexing Severus Snape in there.

"And now," Dumbledore smiled, eyes glittering, "You may eat."

The tables groaned (literally) as dozens of delicious-looking platters appeared from thin air. Chatter and laughter burst out again among the students as everybody piled food onto their plates. Helping myself to some lamb chops, I glanced towards the Slytherin table.

There was Narcissa Black at the center of the table, sitting among a bevy of girls, all of whom had blonde hair, heavy makeup, and an air of indefinite stupidity. Narcissa, with her modelesque figure, expensive clothes and platinum hair, stood out like a queen. She was easily the most glamorous and sought-after girl in the school, almost like the female version of Sirius, but her off-and-on relationship with Lucius Malfoy, who'd graduated a few years ago, made her a frequent gossip victim. It didn't seem like her love life was very rocky at the moment, though - an enormous diamond perched on her right ring finger flashed across the hall whenever one of its facets caught the light.

Further down the Slytherin table sat the darker group of students. Prominent among them was Severus Snape. He was glaring out from behind his dark, greasy hair, not touching his plate. It was rumored that Severus knew even more about the Dark Arts (a subject that James greatly despised) than even Dumbledore. Across from him sat Narcissa's younger sister, Bellatrix Black. She, like Sirius, retained quite a bit of good looks from her family line, but her beauty was matched only by her wickedness. She had been nearly expelled the previous year for using the Crutacius Curse on the caretaker, Ogg, after he'd yelled at her for leaving muddy tracks in the hallway. Bellatrix's parents had paid the Ministry of Magic a few thousand galleons to keep the matter quiet, but of course the story leaked out anyway, and after that Bellatrix Black became greatly feared throughout the school. Indeed, I noticed a few first years daring terrified glances at her.

"James! Remus! Sirius!" somebody huffed. I pried my eyes away from Bellatrix to see Peter running towards us, his chubby face shining with sweat and his breathing labored. A few people from other tables stared.

Peter Pettigrew was the rather unimpressive, dull-looking fourth Marauder. He wasn't particularly bright, nor was he very courageous, and sometimes I had the suspicious feeling that the only reason James put up with Peter was because next to Peter's slow-wittedness and average looks, James appeared all the more brilliant and impressive. Unfortunately, Sirius' tolerance for Peter was significantly lower - he became irked whenever it took Peter more than 30 seconds to understand a joke of his - so among the four of us, Sirius and Peter were probably the most distant.

"How've you guys been?" Peter asked eagerly once he'd sat down, knocking over his goblet of pumpkin juice in the process. "Me, I've been practicing Quidditch all summer, and I reckon I might try out for Chaser now!" he exclaimed excitedly, eyes shining. James snorted into his mashed potatoes, while Sirius hastened to turn his laughter into a convincing sneeze.

"That's great, Pete!" I said brightly, though I knew Peter's chances of making Chaser were less than those of James proposing marriage to Severus.

"Do you think I'll get in?" Peter turned to me, clearly eager to discuss this further. "I'm not that good, not anywhere near James or anything, but I think I still have a pretty decent chance!"

"Er -" I began, but cut myself off when I felt somebody tap my shoulder. Glad for a distraction from Peter, I turned around quickly. Lily Evans stood there, holding my book.

"Wey, Effans!" James started, his mouth bulging with potatoes. Consequently, he sprayed chunks of it all over Sirius' face, who swore so loudly that at least a dozen heads turned this time. A few girls giggled, but stopped immediately upon seeing the livid expression on Sirius' face.

Lily had turned very pink by now. She handed me my book with a quick "Thanks" and hurried away in a blur of red hair and black robes. Sirius took out his wand and began to clean himself, still muttering under his breath, while James had buried his head in his hands and was now tugging at fistfuls of his hair, making it stick out at odd angles.

I couldn't help rolling my eyes. Obviously, nobody had changed much over the summer.

After all the plates had magically vanished, signaling the end of the feast, Dumbledore gave a quick closing speech and dismissed us to bed. I trudged sleepily along with Sirius, James, and Peter up to Gryffindor tower, where James, being Head Boy, was granted the password ("Porcupine pus!"). We stumbled through the portrait hole and climbed the stairs up to our dormitories, where our suitcases were waiting for us.

"Where's Frank?" Sirius wondered aloud as he rummaged around in his bags for his nightclothes.

"Dunno, haven't seen him all day," James said, stifling a yawn. "Probably with Alice," he added on an afterthought, grinning slyly.

Frank Longbottom was our fifth roommate. He was the kind of person who was friendly with everybody because of his easygoing nature. He had been going out with his girlfriend Alice for well over two years now. It wouldn't have surprised me to know he was walking her up to her Hufflepuff common at the moment.

Just before I collapsed onto my feather bed, I reached into my bag, took out my battered copy of Hogwarts, A History and placed it on my night stand - but to my surprise, a folded paper fell from its pages.

Suddenly wide awake, I glanced up to make sure none of the others were looking. They were all busy unpacking and talking amongst themselves. Nonetheless, I turned my back to them and in the swiftest of motions, unfolded the note, recognizing Lily's neat print at once.

Meet me in the library tomorrow after dinner. L.

I re-read the words before crumpling the note and tossing it into a wastebasket. Silently, I climbed into bed, drew the velvet coverings around my bed, and pulled the blanket to my neck, staring pensively up at the dark red canopy above.

What could Lily possibly want to meet me for? I asked myself over and over, listening to Peter's snores, until I too fell sound asleep.

(1) - "So Moony, how was France? The food's incredible, isn't it?"

(2) - "Yeah. And lots of pretty girls, too. Good on my eyes."

A/N: Yeah, I know, this probably wasn't the most exciting, fast-paced opening chapter, but it was important to fill in the background information on several characters. But now that you've been introduced to most everybody and even have a bit of a cliffhanger to wonder about, the coming chapters will definitely be more eventful. Feedback, both positive and negative, is welcome. I'd really like to hear what you thought of this opening chapter, as well as any suggestions or criticisms you might have. Thanks, as always, for reading.