Disclaimer: It all started with an idea in the mind of a brilliant woman named JK Rowling.

Author's Note: YAY! Chapter 8 is up! I suspect everyone knew and knows what's coming up now! Tee hee, I'm so predictable and cliché, but meinh, that's life! Once again, thanks be to all those who are reading this story and major appreciation to those who review.

There were a few things I wanted to say for I belive it was Chapter 6? Muggles and Aurors is a game I invented (that I haven't played yet, sorry) that sort of resembles Cops and Robbers. Aurors play the role of the cops and the robbers are substituted by almost dilusional like characters representing Muggles. It seemed clever at the time.

Also, concerning the story of Mr & Mrs Potter, I truly hope I didn't disappoint anyone. I know I could have gone into great detail, but like I said, James has been nagging at me for the past say thirty two hours, and I couldn't stop probing into his head. Hopefully I'll be able to choke it out of him soon! Anyway, I was trying to go for something not overly sweet or romantic, something normal, not another love/hate relationship thing, and not sprouting from a "she's like my little sister" to "wow, she's definitely not my sister" relationship. Aherm H/G Aherm And do you have any idea how difficult it is to put yourself in the shoes of a witch and wizard who are attending Hogwarts at least a hundred and thirty yearsbefore Harry's time? That's INSANELY more complicated than it sounds.

Anyway, here's 8 - let me know what you think!

Chapter 8 - Requesting

The following seven days flew by hardly noticed. James' life seemed to suddenly swell up with things to occupy his time. For one, there was the three boys that he had promised to help, for two, he was still obliged to take care of some chores around the house, and for three, James oft found himself engaged in all sorts of conversations with both Lily and his Mum. He wondered if they purposely hunted him down, at times, and cornered him just to talk. Why the two witches had suddenly begun to verbally empty out their thoughts as soon as he entered the room, James hadn't a clue.

Not that he could actually find a reason to complain. Quite the contrary, actually. The muddled haired wizard enjoyed hearing Lily's opinions on Slughorn and why he was so…well such a … such a special Professor. They had both thought hard about what to classify him as and neither could find a better category than "special" and so stuck with it. He also liked it when Lily spoke seriously with him about things that mattered to her. Such as her mother, her father, why her sister Petunia resented her so, and how all of that made her feel. He'd even discovered that he was right about her parents' deaths not seeming real to her during the school term. She looked shocked when James had replied, "It was the same after my father died."

With his Mum, conversation never ceased. She was always talking, rambling on about some thing or another, always cheerful, always mysterious. She had, of course, suffered another one of those 'spasms' and had remained awake for a long while after talking to James. She didn't only thank him for staying by her side all this time, she revealed that she actually couldn't be happier that he did. His mother did, however, express repent at the unfairness of James having to see her go through all this. To this, James responded humbly, "You know, Mum, the full extent of your illness seems more real to me when I see you suffer like this. N – not that I enjoy watching your pain, but it reminds me of how fragile life is and how difficult it sometimes is to put up with it. And then when you're finally free of it all, it's like it was all worth it to you because you still smile and laugh and enjoy life as best you can." To this she had simply laid a soft hand on his cheek and whispered with a twinkle in her eye, "You are growing up, James." He had almost been tempted to puff out his chest at her statement.

Lily had also passed a similar comment, although under different circumstances. They had been given the duty to hang out all the clothes to dry in the sun and had kindly chatted until they reached the subject of make believe friends. Lily had confided that she had imaginary friends up until the age of ten. James replied, "I still have some." She had laughed heartily, believing it to be a joke, but James had placed his hands on his hips and waited impatiently for her to quiet. "You didn't let me finish," he said sternly. She had stopped, placed the shirt she had been about to hang back into the pile it had come from and faced him. "It's not like I talk with them or anything, but I do have imaginary friends. Take last night. Last night I was bored, and when I'm bored my mind usually wanders. Well last night, my mind wandered to you and I began inventing scenarios in my head. One of those was sort of an alternate reality where you and I had actually become friends earlier on in life. It was actually quite lovely and then I made myself believe – just for one moment – that it had been true, and I took comfort in what I felt." He had turned to hang up a brown sock.

"And what is that? What you felt, I mean?" She hadn't moved from her spot.

"Peaceful. At ease. Because, say, when you cry, well right now, especially the first time you cried, I had no clue what to do with you. See, I'm not good with things like this – I'm an only child, spoiled, and my friends aren't really the type to cry – so I obviously had no idea how to handle that situation. But in my mind, last night, I knew exactly what to do because I had known you for a while. And that made me feel secure, like I knew what I was doing. It was quite…comfortable."

Lily had continued to stare at him, but not one of those uncomfortable stares. She wore the look of someone who had just been impressed. "You surprise me, James Potter," she had resumed her duty, "because I frankly never believed you would be capable of thinking this way."

That had been one of the most pivotal moments of his week. James had discovered that Lily truly did not know a thing about him, nor he about her. So he now not only enjoyed the talks they shared, but also sought them out himself. And here he was, a full week after the campfire incident, and although it had only been seven days that he and Lily had been talking regularly, he felt like he had learned more in that short time span than any other year.

James, ducking behind a window panel, turned his head abruptly to seek out the familiar cluster of red hair. She was right behind him, a few feet off to his left. Good. He turned his head around to the right, resting his eyes on the bubbly boy called Matt, whom he had secretly named Bubbles. He couldn't help it, the boy's cheeks literally looked like two overstuffed bubbles!

Matt nodded his head once and then twice at James after which he nodded once in return. That was the signal that all was clear to go. Now, all they had to do was wait for the moon to reach right above their heads. James, having studied the moon numerous times before, knew that it would still be at least an hour and forty minutes before this would actually happen, but the three boys had insisted on starting as soon as possible. Lily's eagerness had actually been the convincing factor, though.

One hour passed and the three boys became restless. One of them (Alexander) actually resorted to combing his hair with pine needles; the other, Dorian, was counting something with his hands and toes, huffing loudly whenever he deemed it appropriate; Bubbles had taken to moaning and whispering frantically to James "How about now?" James, always having been something of a patient person (although no one ever really tested his limits – Snape didn't count, there was no fuse for that temper cracker, only instantaneous explosion) merely pressed his index finger to his lips. Bubbles did quiet, but only for a few minutes at a time.

James looked at Lily. Lily looked back at James. They held each other's gaze for a moment, released it only because of another persistent whine from Bubbles. James secretly cursed the boy. How could anyone be so restless? Not even Wormtail had ever complained half as much as this kid when venturing out on their outings. Then his mind drifted to the Marauders.

The full moon had passed already. James received a letter from Sirius and Remus through owl post today stating that everything had gone off without a hitch, and that next time, they suggest both Prongs and Wormtail join their two furry friends on a holiday to Rome to roam (Sirius' idea of a good pun) the streets at night.

Sirius. James missed the guy. He needed him right now to help keep those amateurs quiet. Despite his oddly careless and carefree attitude, Sirius did have a certain way with kids. After all, he was an older brother, though once he had been sorted into Gryffindor, their relationship had sort of deteriorated. Still, his experience with Regulus had given him a certain advantage over James when it had come to dealing with younger kids. James did bring it up once, but to no avail. Sirius had denied ever being thoughtful to "that lil' freckled bloke who just wasted three and a half minutes of my free time?" James had caught the pleased look on his face when Sirius believed he wasn't looking.

James wasn't stupid, he knew Sirius hid a lot of things from even himself. But if James wasn't stupid, well Sirius sure as heck wasn't either, and James figured he too had figured out that James hadn't been most forthcoming about some things concerning him. For one, the actual age of his mother. For another, James had never let on how truly enamoured by Lily he actually was. He also didn't let on that taunting anyone but Snape was stretching it a bit far. (Why did that git anger him so?)

James looked up at the night sky again and realised that over an hour and fifteen minutes had passed just by the location of the moon. He turned to Lily once more, catching her fiddling with the buttons on the front of her shirt. James smiled privately. She was really something to watch, something special to look at. She was always doing something, and when she wasn't, James loved to look into her eyes to try to dig out what she was thinking from them.

She looked up at him and shrugged her shoulders innocently. Her movements suggested that she was bored, but her face betrayed that notion. Her eyes were still ignited with excitement, her lips threatening to curl into an anxious grin. He smiled again, this time revealing it out in public. Lily cocked her head to the side. She was most likely wondering why on earth James Potter was smiling at her that way. She would not find out tonight, though, that her excitement made his stomach want to explode of glee.

Right on cue, figures appeared at the bottom of the road leading up to the humble white house they hid outside of. James sighed to catch the three boys' attention and pointed in the direction of the figures. The grins on their faces made all James' annoyance at them instantly vanish. It reminded him of the first time the Marauders had played a prank. The feeling these boys would experience by the end of their plan – the adrenaline kick, the fear of getting caught, the relief at a succeeded attempt – he knew they would most likely end up searching for that same feeling again every day of the rest of their lives. Heck, he had.

James nodded his head over to Lily once, who nodded hers once back. James turned again to Bubbles, who nodded his head three times. All was ready.

The three figures – two tall, one short – fiddled around at the front door which was actually out of sight for James. That is why he had stationed Dorian at a bush farther out of the side, so that he could signal to him when they had made it inside their house. Dorian stuck out both his thumbs. James nodded again. All was still good to go, and plan was so far well on its way to becoming a success.

The light in the room outside which's window James sat lit up. It was a small fireplace built in the far wall that emitted the faint orange glow. James heard muffled voices coming from inside. His heart sank. Slightly. He hadn't caught what was being said, but he knew that the voice with which the shorter (in other words younger) figure spoke was disappointed and extremely depressed. James smiled. All was working out as planned.

James turned round to Lily and motioned for her to get to work. Lily's part was crucial; he had given her as much as she had asked for without a second thought. Lily was one bloody talented witch and he wasn't going to waste her talent just because she was a first timer. He was confident, nay, positive that whatever he entrusted Lily with, she would uphold without a sweat.

The window slowly, silently, slid up, sending a whiff of chocolate cake straight in James' face. His stomach growled even though he had eaten three portions of stew and two slices of lemon pie. Cake always found a way to make him hungry…

Once the window had reached thirteen inches above the windowsill, it was James' turn to get to work. Lily motioned for him that she would hold up the window as he literally worked his magic. He enchanted a few home-made non explosive firecrackers to slide into strategically plotted out areas of the room. It was a tough job to accomplish, as the entire purpose was to make as little amount of noise as possible, yet still letting the crackers make some sort of sound during their arrangement to draw a little attention to the room.

James bit his lower lip, concentrating on the last firecracker to slip underneath the window. Ingenious, really, these firecrackers were. They would go off at the sound of glass breaking, though they wouldn't actually explode. Instead, sparks of light would fly harmlessly out of the top of the tube, accompanied by a loud sound that wasn't overly deafening, just enough to cause someone's cat to screech and jump out of the room. He smiled at his and Lily's invention. Really, they could be unstoppable together.

Again, James turned to Lily and smiled. That meant all was clear. They watched as a wizard in his mid to late thirties poked his head in the room. "Honey?" he called out. "Are you in here?"

"I'm right behind you," came the reply of a sweet looking witch also in her mid to late thirties. She was wearing her hat still, and looked so much like a mother that James almost wanted to run up and tell her. Almost. The plan was much more important to him, though.

Then the little boy came into the room, looking as gloomy as James had ever seen a young boy look. He felt sorry for him, kind of felt bad that his friends made him go through with this. They had neglected him for the past two days (part of the plan) and had completely ignored and rejected his invitations to go to his uncle's house for his birthday party. But, then again, what he was in for would be better. It would be one birthday this boy will never forget.

James whispered, "now," and both he and Lily pointed their wands at the boys to their right, mumbling something that sounded like 'levicorpus' under their breath. Two boys went flying straight through the open window. James let Alex fall and immediately sent Bubbles through, meanwhile Lily broke a glass cup against the wood panels of the house. The effect was great. Green, red, blue, gold, orange, pink, and silver light erupted from the tubes, causing a great KABOOM to resonate inside the house. James heard the younger three (most likely disoriented) boys scream out "SURPRISE!" He took a peek inside and couldn't help but smile. It had worked. Their little stint had worked. And no, it wasn't the most elaborate plan anyone could think of, and it hadn't involved complex spells and magic (not counting the home made firecrackers, of course) but there was something really gratifying about seeing the kid grin foolishly as his three friends surrounded him and brought out their presents.

James got up, rubbed the dirt from the seat of his trousers, and walked towards his partner in crime. She had obviously stood up at some point during the surprise, for her seat was already completely dirt free (not that James looked or anything).

"That was great!" She said to him as they walked the long road back to his place. He wasn't able to apparate yet for reasons he still hadn't shared with Lily. Not that he was ashamed, he just didn't find it to be his place to be telling her.

He turned to look at her and agreed. "Perfect. That was absolutely brilliant."

"You're quite the planner, Potter," she teased.

But James, being him, accepted any compliment, no matter which form it came in. "I know," he said matter-of-factly, "and you, Lily Evans, surprise me."

"And why is that? Because I didn't mess anything up?"

James shook his head. "No. You are far too talented to have messed this up. No, actually, I just never really knew you had this in you. You're actually quite the natural, it appears…" He directed the most mischievous lop sided smile he could muster.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She pushed his face away with her hand.

"No reason…well, yes reason, but you will probably not want to hear it."

"No, tell me, I want to know." He couldn't refuse her for long. Weakness number one hundred and two: Lily again, except this time, when she asks sincerely.

"You would actually make the Marauders proud."

"Maybe you and your friends can make an opening on the team, then?" she asked in what he recognized as her I'm-messing-around-with-you-to-confuse-you voice.

"You asked for it. I'll put in a request and next meeting, you will definitely be first on our priorities list." He bowed his head as though he were face to face with the kind of the universe.

"I expect nothing less than first, Potter, and don't you forget it!" He merely smiled. He knew she had said that out on a whim, but it only proved that indirectly she pinpointed him. She knew that she would be the first thing to come out of his lips the next time he would talk to his friends.

James blushed again at this point and hastily scratched the back of his head, pushed his glasses up his nose, and threw his hands inside his pockets. He felt Lily's eyes on him and was ever so thankful that the night sky didn't give enough light to reveal his very reddened cheeks.

He was twice as grateful a few seconds later when Lily hooked her arm in his and they walked the rest of the way to the Potter Manor (which was a good seventy three minute walk) in cosy silence.

To my faithful reviewers:

NJ MacReiley - Thanks eversomuch. I only hope this update was soon enough for you.

Redbird-flying-away - Ah! I love that you LOVE it! ;o p

Freja - Really hope the story pleased you. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Nora17 - well well well, look who crawled into James' thoughts this chapter? The other two are kind of taunting me in the back of my head, saying "What about me? What aboutme?" Ahh, knowing me, this story'll end up being 111111 chapters long.

WitchyMage - Also hopin' the story suited your liking. Thanks for letting me know that you wanted to hear it, as it was proving most difficult to create the opportunity for romance or whatever you want to call it.

Weird Not Boring - I love your name! And thanks for the website, I put it in my favourites (now I just have to get my lazy arse over there and read what's there!). Unhappily enough, I do foresee with my Seer senses slightly depressing chapters coming up. (Of course I foresee them, I am writing them, right? hihi...okay hyper much?)

Hopefullly I'll have chs 9 and 10 up tomorrow before I go to work. If not, I'll get out of work early (cross fingers) and hurry on over to continue. Sorry again for the tardiness of my last 2 chapters! I really had expected them to be up sooner (ok it was only a few hours, but I'm sort of like Hermione that way- I make up a schedule and I usually stick with it. Deviating from it for unproductive purposes really unnerves me!) Okay, I've already said too much...