'Potter!'

I groaned. Turning slowly, I left Remus, Sirius and Peter to walk on without me. 'Come to your senses, Evans?'

Alright, I'm not stupid. I knew what she wanted but I wanted to get her hair frizzled. Have to admit though, she had beautiful hair. Dear Merlin, what was wrong with me? I didn't even like her, she was a bitch.

'Yeah, I have actually. I decided not to kill you, although I might have the whole of womankind hating me for this one capitulation-'

'Big word.'

'Shut your face.' She stepped up close to me, standing on tiptoes to get her nose almost touching mine. 'Stay. Away. From. Me. Get it?'

'Got it.'

'Good.'

And in a swirl of red and black, she was gone.

Leaving me to storm to potions, accidentally slamming Severus Snape up against a wall as I went. Just to release some pent up anger. Of course. He was good for that.

It wasn't until I was in bed later that night that I let myself actually think about the last few years. What had I filled it with? Going out with girls, wasting time in class, playing pranks and making Snape suffer for breathing. Slimy git. It was exactly that that had Evans hating me. But she smells, so it doesn't matter. She was so conceited, with her gaggle of oh so popular girls. Every single one of them either Padfoot or I had been with. Or Remus. He was slightly less… flamboyant than Sirius and I, so the quieter girls tended to hanker after him.

I suppose Sirius was known as the tall, dark and handsome type, with a loud mouth and sense of humour to boot. He walked through Hogwarts and you could see the girls mouths watering, eyes wide as they gazed at him. He was relaxed, easy, willing to laugh, ready to laze around at any chance he had. But when his mind switched on, it was fast. He came from an ancient line, rather inbred, so the whole 'keep it in the family' thing was a bit focused. Somehow it bypassed him and he slipped through the branches of the family tree and landed in Gryffindor. He's the diamond in the rough. In a way. I'm not planning to elope with the guy but hey, he is my best mate.

Remus Lupin… well, he moved to South West England and started at Hogwarts when we did. Pale, skinny guy. Maybe it was the look in his eyes, but Sirius and I started to talk to him as soon as we plonked ourselves down in the compartment he was in. The thing is, we were a bit confused as to why he had to disappear every month. According to him, his mother was very sick. But, despite the fact that Sirius and I are known as trouble makers, we also have brains. And, with the help of Petter Pettigrew, who just suddenly started shadowing us, we put the clues together. Gone once a month. Full moon. Came back looking drained and exhausted. That and the help of our third year book for Magical Creatures. Unbeknownst to our dear friend Remus, we worked out tiny backsides off and, using my trusty invisibility cloak, we found the method to turn ourselves into animagi.

The next time he was whisked away beneath the Whomping Willow, we trailed him. I can still remember the shocked look on his face. Bless his cursed little heart. And when we transformed, well… He was a happy chappy then. He didn't look quite so exhausted when he came back and we managed to keep him close to his right mind after he transformed.

So, that was how we lived. Ran wild once a month and damn, we had some close calls. Fun, though. And it was those nights running wild that helped us create the map. The Marauders Map.