Title: Forgotten Dreams
Rating: PG-13 for child abuse, drug usage, suggestive themes and slight language.
Summery: Sixth year has just begun for the original marauders and their year. Lily Evans is nothing but a wallflower. Nobody even knows she exists. James Potter is the exact opposite. He's rich, he's popular, and he's perfect. Everyone knows who James Potter is. But sixth year comes and it brings changes with it. What happens when fate brings these two together? Who knows? Not I. (AU. Oh, and by the way, Peter Pettigrew is a Slytherin in this. He is not close friends with James and co. Not now, not EVER! )

Chapter Four

The Pranksters War and Quidditch Try-Outs

The first week back at Hogwarts was as normal as it could be, what with the Marauders running around, cursing Slytherins and plotting themselves silly. It progressed rather slowly, until of course, the infamous Pranksters War began. It began on the first Saturday back. The first Saturday was more commonly known as 'Do not leave your dorm except for food and even then, make sure you aren't seen' day. The reason? The Marauders chose the first Saturday to prank anyone who they came across. The pranking started at 9, right in the middle of breakfast. But someone else struck first.

At 8:30, when some people dared to run down to the hall to retrieve some food, a prank went down. The entire hall went black. The charmed ceiling showed a pitch black night sky, instead of the dusky morning clouds it had shown moments before. Screams erupted from the hall and the lights went back on. The ceiling went back to its cloudy self. And, in an instant, the screams began again. Everything, everyone, was coated in a bright, violent pink. From Professor Dumbledore's long white beard to Snape's greasy hair, everything was pink. And at the Gryffindor table, three boys jumped to their feet, shouting.

"WHO DID THAT?"

"THIS IS OUR PRANK DAY, DAMNIT!"

"WHO THE HELL TURNED MY HAIR PINK!"

Sirius Black, James Potter and Remus Lupin were staring around, accusing stares at everyone. Above their heads, blue words were forming. First one letter, then a word. It took the angry pranksters a moment to realize that their question was being answered. They looked up at the blue words and read them.

"BOYS YOU'VE BEEN BEATEN. TRY AGAIN NEXT YEAR! –Prankster Inc."

James Potter's face had been drained of color. Sirius Black looked astounded. Remus Lupin, however, clapped. Yes, he clapped. The entire hall stared at him as he got up and stood on the table. James and Sirius stared at him.

"I'd just like to congratulate whoever administered this prank. Bear in mind, we will find out who you are and you WILL pay for taking our Prank Day. But for now, good job."

He began to step down, but then opened his mouth to speak again.
"And, considering its 8:59, I think that you all should be making a run for it…Oh look, it's 9."

He smirked at James and Sirius, who pulled out their wands. Everyone screamed and in one motion ran for their already-pranked dignities.

Three people, however, did not leave. Lily Evans, Marie Du Ponte and Sebastian Du Ponte stayed in their seats at the end of the hall, munching on their toast, chatting idlely (Is that a word?). The Marauders ran out of the hall and Lily smirked.

"Being a wallflower has its advantages, doesn't it not my French compadres?"

"Yes Flower, yes it does."

They laughed and continued to munch on their toast. Marie was examining her pink hair in a spoon and frowning.

"You know, I don't think pink is really my color, do you?"

"No, but then again, pink is nobodies color, which is why we chose it, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. But you do know the counter-jinx, right?"

"Torasi"

Lily prodded Marie's hair and it returned to its sleek, jet black. Marie snickered as Sebastian attempted to fix his own hair, unsuccessfully. Instead of returning to jet black, his hair turned a rather ugly shade of puce. Lily and Marie both attempted, also unsuccessfully, to stifle their laughter. Sebastian scowled at both of them, and Lily, still cackling, prodded his hair as well. It returned to its messy black. Marie patted her brother on the shoulder, still giggling. Lily now fought to keep her face straight as she began to speak.

"Marie, Seb, today is a special day. Today is the day that the infamous Marauders were beaten at their own game, Pranking. They are going to work hared to figure out who beat them to the pranks, so we'll have to be discrete in our own pranking. Which means, Marie, no hexing 'The Enemy' (AKA the Marauders) in the common room. If you do that it will give away our house, making it easier for 'The Enemy' to narrow down their suspects. Good? Good."

Lily fought to keep her face straight throughout her mini-speech and gave up. Her expression broke into one of laughter. Marie and Sebastian mock-clapped and joined in laughing with Lily.

However, things never do go as planned. If you plan an outdoor wedding when the forecast said there wouldn't be a cloud in the sky, it's bound it rain. If you tell a mouse not to eat cheese, he's still going to eat it. So Lily telling Marie and Sebastian not to prank in the common room didn't really work. For the next two weeks, the Gryffindor Common room had become a War Ground. Nobody dared step foot in it without a bubble-head charm, which was unfortunate, because very few students below 6th year knew that specific charm. Nobody really knew how the Pranksters War had actually begun, but most students credited it to the fact that Pranksters Inc. had beaten the Marauders at their own game, by setting off a prank that effected the entire student body, as well as all the staff members. It might also be because that prank, not-so-fondly remembered as 'The Pink Fiasco', took place on the Marauders Prank Day.

The Common Room War had begun because of an accident. One of the Marauders, (Sirius, but nobody knew that), had accidently pushed somebody's Potions essay into the fire. Unfortunatly, it had been a member of Pranksters Inc.'s essay, and obviously, they retaliated by setting off dung bombs in the boys dorm. The Marauders set off fireworks in the common room. Pranksters Inc. stole the Marauders homework. So on and so forth.

By now, the Marauders were determined to discover the identities of their Prankster Rivals. Sirius, however, was in a very good mood, considering the situation.

"I told you that somebody would try to out prank us this year, Prongs! I told you! But did you listen? Nooo. And now look what's happened! We're being pranked by this unknown group of Gryffindors! Gryffindors, James! People in our house are pranking us and we can't do anything about it because we don't know who they are!"

Remus sighed and went back to reading. James, however, looked up and shook his head at Sirius. He knew that Sirius was right, in his own insane, confusing way. Sirius had said that someone would try to out prank them, and somebody was defiantly trying. James's forehead creased and he put his hand to his temples and rubbed them gently. It wasn't the essay from McGonnagal that was giving James a headache, it was the fact that he didn't know who was pranking him, so therefore, he had very few ways to retaliate. But, more or less, it was what Sirius had just said that was giving him a headache. It was a group of Gryffindors that were pranking him. People from his own house. And none of this added up. Gryffindors, (Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs too, if it comes down to it), they all loved him. They fell over their own feet to help him. And yet, somehow, a group of his own housemates had gone against him.

"Remus…"

"What James?"

"Why is it so hard to figure out who's doing this? I mean, seriously, there are only 70 students in Gryffindor! Then, take away us three, it's only 67 students. And Mr. Head Boy, Jared, would never risk his badge to prank us. So that's 66 students, right?"

"No James. Some of those pranks had Zonkos products in them. So that narrows it down to 46 students."

"Why? When I was in first year I owled my orders to Zonkos and they sent them!"

"James, in the first and second years combined there are twenty students. Half of those students are muggleborns, so they've never even heard of Zonkos. The other ten students are either half bloods or pure bloods. And, even if they had those products, it still doesn't matter. They still couldn't've set up those pranks."

"Why?"

"Because I tutor them and I know what they can and cannot do. In my first tutoring lesson with those ten kids, I got them to show me the most advanced magic they knew. You want to know what the most advanced bit of magic was?"

"Sure…what was it? And how do you know they were telling the truth?"

"It was the Cheering Charm we learnt in third year. A second year knew that. But that's it. And, James, have you already forgotten that I'm a Legilimens? That's how I knew that it was Sirius who dyed your hair pur— oops…"

"THAT WAS SIRIUS?"

"Err…Maybe. Anyway, we're getting off topic. The point is that nobody below at least the fourth year, maybe even the fifth year, would be able to set up those pranks. So that narrows our search down to, I don't know, 36 students."

"Right. Why can't you just use your Legilimency to find out who it is?"

"Because that'd be cheating, James. That's like using Legilimency to find out the answers to a test or something."

"Yeah, I guess your right."

Remus tilted his head slightly and raised an eyebrow.

"You guess?"

"I mean, I know your right."

"Right…"

Somewhere in the common room, a clock chimed eleven and the few people left in the common room stood up and bid each other good night as they dragged themselves upstairs to their beds. James shook Sirius, who had fallen asleep on top of his Transfiguration essay, and the three Marauders trudged upstairs to bed.

But James didn't fall asleep right away. He lay in his four-poster bed, listening to Sirius's snores, Frank's mutterings and Remus's twitching, for a long time. He couldn't sleep. His mind, which was usually brimming with Quidditch tactics and prank ideas, was now concerned with only one thing. The identity of the members of Pranksters Inc. He knew that, eventually, he'd find out. But not knowing was killing him. But, he knew that he couldn't dwell on his rivals identities for long. He needed his sleep, at least tonight. Tomorrow were the Quidditch try-outs, and he, being Captain, had to be there to choose the team. And with the thought of that Quidditch Cup lodged in his mind, he felt sleep overcome him and slipped into the darkness that was clouding his vision.

(A/N: Hmm…Maybe I'll leave you here. It's not really a cliffie, but…I won't. Why? Because I'm nice like that!)

The next day was Saturday. It was also the Quidditch Try-outs. At 9:00, there were forty or so students standing on the Quidditch Pitch. Among these forty students were Lily Marie Evans, Marie Jennifer Du Ponte and Sebastian Alexander Du Ponte, each holding a broom. Lily was looking as if she'd rather be anywhere but at the Quidditch Try-Outs, but Marie and Sebastian were looking excited.

"Marieeeeee, I can't even fly! I've never tried! I was sick when we had flying lessons in first year! I've never even seen a Quidditch Game!"

"Lily…"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up. You can to fly. I've seen you!"

"Wha…How…What? When? I've never flown!"

Lily spluttered, but the triumphant look on Marie's pale face told her that she had been found out. Ever since first year, Lily had taken to flying around the castle after everyone had fallen asleep. And she was good at it. Lily had a natural ease when it came to flying. And Lily had seen Quidditch Games. She'd watched all the matches, no matter who played in them. She never cheered, or rooted on her team. She went to watch the game, not to see who won.

"Oh, alright. You win. I'll try-out. Don't you look at me with that smug look on your face! How'd you know I fly?"

"I didn't. But then I saw that your not carrying a school broom. That's a Silverarrow. They don't have Silverarrows at Hogwarts. I know, I've checked. How'd you afford it?"

Lily looked disgruntaled for a moment, then grinned and looked at her Silverarrow lovingly.

"Cost me an arm and a leg. Not literally, but it took me two years to save up for the broom I wanted. But by the time I'd got more then enough money, the Silverarrow was out and I thought, heck, this broom is better then the other one. So I just bought the Silverarrow instead. Best broom I've ever ridden."

Marie laughed and began to speak, but never got the chance. The students were getting into groups. Those who were trying out for Keeper were standing under one of the goal hoops. Sebastian winked at us and ran off to join them. Seeker's were standing below the commentators platform. Chasers were standing by the entrance to the field. And Beaters were standing by the ball box. Lily and Marie both nodded and ran off in separate directions. Lily towards the Chasers and Marie towards the Beaters, who were all boys, except for Marie and a fifth year named Shelly.

A dark, messy haired teen (A/N: Hmm…Who could that be?) walked out into the middle of the field.

"KEEPERS UP!"

He shouted as he kicked off from the ground and flew up into the air. The group by the hoops mounted their own brooms and kicked off. The try-outs progressed slowly. Each Keeper seemed to be worse then the previous. Lily looked on, her fingers crossed, as Seb flew forward to take his turn. The messy-haired teen looked him over quickly and flew forward, Quaffle held under his arm. Seb floated in the air, his eyes fixed on the boy. In a split second, the Captain shot the quaffle out from under his left arm. It soared towards the right hoop and Sebastian snatched it a millimeter from the goal, smirking. He tossed the Quaffle back to the Captain. Lily was grinning from ear to ear as Sebastian saved the second, third, fourth and fifth shot. He flew back to the ground, grinning in a smug sort of way. The messy haired teen looked mutinious as he called out for the Chasers. Lily looked at Marie, who gave her the thumbs up, and she took off into the sky. She felt the wind lashing at her face and at once any nerves she might have had vanished.

Two bowls of oatmeal, a licorice wand and two later, James was sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, looking over the list of people who had tried-out and crossing off names. There had been no exceptional Keepers, except for the Du Ponte boy, so he was in. The boys trying out for the Beater position had completely embarrassed themselves, as the position went to the only two girls who tried out, Marie Du Ponte and Michelle Davis. But it was the matter of the Chasers that was really worrying James. There had been no horrible players, but there were no League-worthy players either. He'd seen the Chasers play against each other, and flew with them himself, but he didn't know. There were, however, a few he crossed off immeadantly. Terry Jackson always had other commitments. Faye Williams was terribly lazy. Andrew Martya was constantly dropping the Quaffle. No, no. They wouldn't do.

His eyes scanned the Chaser list in front of him. There were three names remaining, he only needed two of them.

"Remus!"

As James looked up, Remus walked into the hall, looking around for James. He grinned and waved Remus over.

"What James?"

"Who do I eliminate? All three of them are really good fliers…"

"Who?"

"Cathryn Jones, Lily Evans and Kevin Aeon."

"Evans and Aeon. Jones favors the left and she'll fly off formation."

"Right."

James' eyes twinkled as he crossed off Cathryn Jones' name.

"So, I had to compile a whole new team, except for me."

"Why you?"

"I'm captian, dumbarse."

"Oh…Who's on the team?"

"Check the rooster when I post it in the Common Room tonight. In fact, I'll post it now."

James jumped to his feet and hurried out of the hall and up the Marble Staircase, leaving Remus sitting alone at the table, wondering what had just happened.

"Look, that kid's posting the Team Rooster. Marie, go check it!"

That was Lily. She, Marie and Sebastian were sitting in a corner, watching the notice board. Marie grinned, grabbed her brother and Lily's wrists and dragged them over to the newly posted Rooster.

"Let's see…Keeper, SEBASTIAN! You got Keeper! Beaters…Michelle Davis and…MARIE DU PONTE! YES! And Chasers…Kevin Aeons, James Potter and LILY EVANS! And the Seeker…some kid called Molly Prewett from the seventh year."

Lily was grinning from ear to ear. Marie was jumping up and down and Sebastian was dancing…Was that an Irish Jig? Lily stopped grinning long enough to speak,

"Guys, this is a turning point. I think that the fact that we all made the team is a sign of good things happening in the future. I think we're finally getting lucky! The status quo has tilted to our favor, lady and germ. We're finally getting our share of good luck. We'll never suffer bad luck again."

This was a stupid thing to say, of course. Because 'never' is Karma's calling card. And bad things did start to happen. The very next day, in fact.

A/N: And there I leave you. I don't know if that classifies as a cliffie. Possibly. I don't really know. Anyway, this chapter is kind of long. Eight pages in 8.5 veranda font. I think that's pretty good. Sorry I made you guys wait so long, and I'm VERY sorry for pausing Bonds of Love. I just ran out of ideas. I'm really sorry. Anyway, I did not achieve my goal for the summer. I only posted…two new chapters, instead of the five I was hoping for. Anyway, school starts again next week. In exactly eight days. Argh. How dare they send us back THE DAY AFTER LABOR DAY! Ok. Anyways, there's your chapter.

In the next 'exciting' edition of 'Forgotten Dreams'...

The creation of the flying pig remark.
Where Grinwald went wrong and...
HOW DID SEBASTIAN LEARN AN IRISH JIG!