Dearest readers mine,

Oooh, I just LOVE reviews! Don't you? You guys are awesome- love ya! Okay, think I'll do my replies here so I can explain some stuff before we embark upon our lovely next chapter :)

Scowlingpixie- yay! First reviewer… always love my first reviewers! I am indeed very proud of myself for coaxing you into reviewing, and very grateful to you for giving in! Lily is around the boys a lot in this story… hopefully for reasons that will become clear in later chapters (checking my plan, very exciting coz I don't usually have one, and I think you'll find out properly in about… chapter 12 ish. Geez, am I really going to have to write 10 more before that one! Oh dear…!). But also coz I love the boys- I just can never make them irritating enough for anyone to hate them, so much easier to make them loveable  Glad you like the change anyhow. And Remus makes his first debut in… ooh chapter 3! That's next- excitement! And I promise to update soon just so you can see him!

Ktmur644- a good question… does Lily like Sirius? In all honesty, I have no idea! I may have a plan and stuff, but to be perfectly honest my stories almost write themselves. I think in general, no one can resist Sirius (I mean, come on, it's Sirius!) but he's a bit of a scamp really, not proper boyfriend material, and he can drive Lily up the wall sometimes. Lily's the same, she smart and funny and beautiful but loves teasing the boys. So in general I think it's a bit of a love/hate relationship! But if you would like to believe that she does, that is entirely up to you- I generally like to leave room for people's imaginations, having a pretty wild one myself! Hope that's okay!

Zippyfox- thank you so much for reviewing as ever! You're my little star!

Beblaspanksyou- a confession, yes usually I am one of those unbelievably aggravating people that doesn't update for weeks on end! However, as I explained, this time I already have 10 chapters more or less written already, and am working on further ones as we speak. So, all fingers crossed, I shan't leave you in the dark about anything!

Enchanted-legend- ah yes, I remember getting questions about this last time. In fact, I do realise James is meant to be Head-Boy… and believe me when I say there is a reason for my mistake (read on to find out more!)

miss-mags-ak- as you so command! Hope this is to your liking :)

holly- glad you like it so far! But do you think you explain to me how it's slightly au? To be perfectly honest I'm not sure how it is, but it would be nice to know anyway:)

And so, dear friends, all that's left for me to say is, enjoy!

Disclaimer: Oh. Yeah. I don't own it either (sob sob).

R xxx

'Potter! Black! Do that once more and I will give you a week's worth of detentions!' yelled Professor McGonagall from the front desk.

James and Sirius grinned.

'WITH PROFESSOR CLAUDIUS!' They stopped grinning, pretty much instantly, the smirks on their faces wiped off like chalk off a blackboard. Detention with McGonagall was bearable, almost fun. They were getting very practised at winding her up so much that she let them go early (great memories of the firecrab Sirius had 'accidentally' planted in her desk…). However, Claudius was the current Care of Magical Creatures teacher and who had a special affinity for flobberworms and firecrabs. He also had patience that stretched to eternity and beyond. Therefore detention with him was either fifteen times as dull as History of Magic or fifteen thousand times more painful than being hit in the side of the head with a fast moving bludger. Either way, James and Sirius immediately restored Snape's hair to its original colour and busied themselves with trying to transfigure their statues into real living creatures. They would have mastered it by now had it not been for their reluctance to have a tarantula and a scorpion materialise on their desks.

James cast a glance left at Lily who was currently cuddling a tiny Labrador puppy while Peter was fully occupied trying to find his chicken which seemed to have gotten bored and wandered off. Snape was casting them snide glances while his green and white banded snake wound round his shoulders.

Sirius glanced down at the model of the spider sitting in front of him with disgust. 'Hey Lils, wanna swap?' he called out.

'Not really,' she called out, cooing over the baby dog in her arms. James looked at her, admiring how beautiful she was looking this morning, her eyes sparkling over the small golden creature.

'Mr Black. Don't call out in class' came McGonagall's voice.

'Professor, can I not have a different model?'

'What's wrong with yours?' Sirius remained silent, staring at the ugly model in front of him.

'Scared of spiders Black?' sneered Snape quietly.

'Shut it Snivellus,' growled Sirius.

'How precious. Professor, Black seems to have a phobia of spiders,' sniggered Snape.

'You asked for it Snivelly,' whispered Sirius, pointing his wand at Snape.

'RIGHT, THAT IS IT MR BLACK!'

Ten minutes later...

James and Sirius walked out of class, Sirius muttering curses under his breath, followed by Snape who had pulled the hood of his robes up over his head. He walked swiftly past, leering as he did so.

Lily was waiting for them just around the corner. 'Heya,' she said, falling into step in between the two boys. 'What did you get?'

'Claudius,' muttered Sirius. 'One week.'

'Don't worry about it mate,' sympathised James, patting him of the shoulder. 'Last I heard, all the third years killed his last supply of flobberworms.'

'Fantastic, firecrabs it is then,' he groaned, tugging fiercely on a lock of hair, slightly too long for him.

'Something wrong Siri?' asked Lily.

James answered for him. 'Last time we got detention with Claudius, the firecrabs set his head on fire. Burned all his lovely long glossy locks.' James grinned, Lily winced, Sirius moaned.

'It was worth it for the effect it had on Snape though,' Lily said quietly, smiling.

'Is this the Head Girl encouraging sworn troublemakers?' James asked mockingly while Sirius' expression seemed to lighten.

'Of course not,' Lily said in a falsely superior tone. 'Only commending her friend for a fantastic bit of charm work on the person I hate the most.' Sirius grinned now.

'It was damn cool wasn't it?'

'Very,' she replied.

'So,' said Sirius, turning to Lily and draping an arm around her waist as they walked. 'Do you think this fantastic charming might work on some other things too?'

'Ahh Sirius my darling,' said Lily, in turn putting her arm around his waist. They were now in the great hall. 'You wish.' And with that she pecked him on the cheek, then turned to James and did likewise and then ran up the stairs to go to arithmancy.

'I'll get her one day,' said James, wistfully.

'Ahh Prongs my darling,' said Sirius in an uncanny Lily-like voice, draping an arm around James' shoulders now. 'You wish.'

'Geroff,' said James, shoving him off and accidentally sending him crashing into a group of fourth year Hufflepuff girls who all looked like Christmas had come early. Having Sirius Black thrown into your path was a thing of dreams…

Lily walked along the fourth floor corridor and up another flight of stairs to get to her arithmancy classroom. She turned the corner and saw a sight that made her stomach knot very tightly. Five Slytherins were standing at the other end of the passageway, all boys, and blocking her path to her class. This wasn't good.

'Hey mudblood,' said a pale, fair headed boy at the front of the group, a sneer curling his lip. 'How are your mates then?'

'Fine, thanks Malfoy,' replied Lily coolly. 'And how are your minions?' she glanced around at the other four boys, one of whom was Snape, still with his hood up.

'Watch yourself Muds,' said Malfoy, advancing on her.

The low down on Malfoy, Lucius in fact- mean, evil, clever, cunning but hey, we knew that already right? Seems to make it his sworn duty to make every non-Slytherin's life a living hell, and does a pretty good job of it too. Of course, Gryffindors get preferential treatment- Lily most so, seeing as she has beaten him in every Potions test they have ever sat. This he takes as a personal insult.

'I'll do that. Now, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to get to class,' Lily replied, trying to keep her temper down.

'Sorry, I do mind. See, there's this little problem.'

'Oh?'

'Yes, "oh" you impertinent shit.' Lily felt her temper rise, adrenaline pumping through her veins, readying herself for a fight. A fight, moreover, she couldn't win, no matter how good a witch she was. Five against one was just asking for trouble. 'You see, the problem is that of concerning Potty and the Blood Traitor.'

'His name is Sirius,' Lily growled.

'Oh, getting touchy aren't we? Well, they've pissed us off, and seeing as they're not around and you are, we thought we'd take it out on you.'

'Did you?' said Lily, trying to maintain the consistency of her voice, not to show the fear in it

'Yes. That way they can feel guilty, and we get another mudblood out of our sight… for a while at least.' They moved towards her. Two of the goons grabbed Lily by the arms and Malfoy drew his wand and flicked it once and at once it felt as though Lily had been kicked in the stomach. She doubled over, eyes screwed up against the pain, but not emitting a sound. Malfoy flicked his wand again and at once, Lily's nose stung like mad, making her eyes water. She felt blood trickling down her chin, tasted its saltiness as it trickled into her mouth. Malfoy now aimed his wand at her throat, and Lily gasped as two of his goons grabbed her arms in painfully tight grips. But through her pain and fear she heard a voice from behind her.

'Malfoy, you must be clinically thick. If I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times. Do not call my best friend a mudblood.' Lily saw the tall frame and chestnut hair before Nick's fist slammed into Malfoy's stomach.

The other Slytherins froze, either looking at Nick or at Malfoy, who was now doubled over, completely winded from the blow. Nick then picked up the two who had been holding Lily by the neck of their robes and slammed them together so they fell to the floor, clutching their heads and moaning.

'Any questions?' he said, voice terrifyingly quiet. The others ran for it and Lily saw Snape's hood fall down as he ran, revealing a head of fantastically shocking pink hair. Lily fell to the floor, whimpering slightly. Nick bent over her, wiping blood away from her mouth and chin with a damp cloth he conjured out of thin air

'Come on then,' he whispered, picking her up easily in his strong arms. 'Hospital wing.'

'Hey, she's awake.'

'No she's not.'

'Is too.'

'Oh yeah.'

'Lily?'

Lily opened her eyes slowly to find her bed surrounded with people, namely Nick, Peter, James and Sirius.

'Hey you,' said Nick. 'How you feeling?'

'Oh my god Lily,' said James, 'you should have woken up like ten minutes ago, you'd have loved it.'

'Yeah, James cursed Malfoy's arms off when Nick told us what happened,' said Sirius eagerly.

'But then I got two weeks of detentions,' said James.

'Yeah, but it was so cool,' said Peter.

'And then Snape ran into the Great Hall to tell a teacher-' said Sirius.

'-and forgot to make sure his hood was on, so the whole hall saw his hair,' finished James.

'Classic,' murmured Sirius, smiling wistfully at the memory. Lily's head was pounding, and it was a little difficult to process all this information.

'Guys, chill,' said Nick quietly.

'Oh, sorry,' whispered Sirius.

'It's okay,' said Lily weakly, smiling. 'What time is it?'

'Dunno, but whatever time it is, it's not close enough to supper, I'm starving,' said James. Lily rolled her eyes- typical.

'It's seven pm,' said Nick. 'If you guys want to grab something to eat, I'll stay with her till you get back.'

'You sure?' asked Sirius.

'Yeah, no problem.'

'Thanks mate,' said James, getting up. 'He walked over to Nick and offered a hand, 'Thanks for everything.'

'My pleasure,' said Nick, ever graceful, shaking James' hand.

'Come on then,' said Sirius. 'Lily, anything you want? Bread? Chicken? Malfoy's head on a platter?'

'I'm fine, thanks,' Lily grinned. 'But send my regards to Aquus if you do see him.'

'Shall do,' and with a wink and a grin, Sirius led the way out of the hospital wing, with Peter and James only stopping to say goodbye to Lily, the latter giving her a small kiss on the forehead before they went too.

'How're you feeling?' asked Nick quietly, taking the seat next to Lily's bed and leaning with his elbow on the bed.

'Like I've been attacked and rescued by a knight in shining armour,' Lily replied, smiling. Nick grinned back.

'I live only to serve m'lady,' he said, taking Lily's hand and kissing it. Lily giggled.

'So what happened to the others?' she asked.

'Before or after James cursed Malfoy's arms off?' Lily laughed, good old James. 'Well, actually, either way I'm not quite sure. I went straight to Dumbledore after I brought you up here and explained what had happened. Malfoy's on suspended leave for two weeks and the rest of them have detentions and a ban on the next Hogsmeade weekend.' Lily smiled, but in a rather pained way.

'I could have gone another way,' she said quietly. 'I could have avoided this.'

'Don't you dare blame yourself Lily Amelia Evans,' Nick said sternly. 'Don't even think about it, those scum deserved what they got… and it felt really good to finally hit Malfoy…' he added, smiling slightly.

'Finally?' Lily asked, raising an eyebrow.

'Yeah, I've been controlling myself for years,' Nick said casually, flicking a strand of hair out of his eyes. Lily raised her eyebrows even more. Nick caught her glance and said, 'Oh yeah, Quidditch doesn't count,' and Lily laughed.

'Of course not,' she giggled. She put a hand up to her nose which was still a little painful but nowhere near as bad as it had been. However, it was not her nose that made her give a gasp of pain.

'What is it?' asked Nick looking worried.

'My arms,' said Lily, looking puzzled. She began gingerly rolling up the sleeve of her nightgown (which she had clearly been changed into while she had been unconscious). Nick stopped her and took the sleeve himself. He pushed it up as slowly as he could and he gasped when he reached just above his elbow.

'What is it?' asked Lily, unable to see.

'The bastards,' murmured Nick. Imprinted on Lily's pale skin were a set of bruises in the shape of finger marks. They were clear as day, purple with streaks of red and when Nick moved round to check Lily's other arm ad sure enough, they were there too, the same if not even worse. Nick moved the gown's sleeves right up to Lily's shoulders so she could see for herself. She didn't say anything for a while.

'They'll fade eventually,' she said. 'They probably didn't even realise how tightly they were holding me.

'I didn't even hurt them,' whispered furiously.

'You bashed them together,' Lily reminded him. 'They probably have better bruises than this on their foreheads.' Nick said nothing. 'I'll just have to quit wearing strappy tops for a while, that's all.'

Nick stared at her incredulously. 'You are the most amazing person I have ever met.'

'How so?'

'How can you be so forgiving? After what they did to you?'

'I only pity them,' she said quietly.

'They don't deserve your pity. They don't deserve anything from you, you're too good,' Nick growled, looking down at the ground. Lily placed a hand under his chin and lifted his head to look at her.

'Stop it,' she said quietly. 'Stop being so nice. It always makes me feel bad.'

Nick looked up at her, then down at the bruises on her arms. He bent down and pressed a kiss to the one her right arm. Lily closed her eyes, savouring the sensation.

'What did I ever do to deserve you?' she asked.

'Nothing at all, but you love me anyway,' Nick grinned.

At that precise moment the doors to the Hospital wing burst open, revealing McGonagall with parsnips jammed up her nose, Sirius, James and a creature that seemed to have the body of a large toad but with the feet and hands of a human. Lily and Nick cast a disgusted look at the creature that McGonagall was holding.

'Well, he moved,' explained Sirius.

'Still a pretty cool transfiguration Padfoot,' said James.

'Considering we haven't even started human transformation in class,' sniffed McGonagall.

Nick and Lily cast a look at each other, why was McGonagall being so calm about this?

'Mr Malfoy was not best pleased when I told him that he needed to pack to go home for his suspension,' she said tartly, as she went to find Madam Ingram, the nurse.

'Notice the parsnips?' asked James quietly, smiling slightly.

'I can't believe he moved,' Sirius said. 'Mind you, part humans are a lot more difficult to change back,' and he grinned wolfishly.

'You know Siri, I actually said"no" when you asked if I wantedhis head on a platter?' Lily said, grinning.

'Well, I didn't give it to you,' Sirius reasoned.

'I think he's much better looking,' Nick said.

'Couldn't agree more Foster,' James grinned.

That night and halfway into the next day, Sirius kept a sworn vigil at Lily's bedside. He sent James to explain that he was tending the needy and 'couldn't possibly attend lessons while a friend's life hung in the balance.' However, he gave up at about eleven thirty in the morning when the hunger was just too much to bear. So James took over.

But then the arrival of another person made Lily's day better than it had been (come on, no lessons, spending the day with at least one of the Marauders or Nick, what could possibly make it any better!)…

Muahahahaha! Well, dear ones, I have been amending my plan (since finishing this chapter) big time as my evil plot twisting fairy paid me a visit while I was revising the structure and functions of the nephron (the joys). Naturally I was torn away from dear Biology and ripped my plan to pieces, rewrote it and guess what? It rocks! Hehehe, even if I do say so myself. I love my special fairy- she's great (she's made it a bit angsty though… maybe I should tone it down a bit). However, even if the plan rocks, this says nothing for the story that will proceed! It's up to you to knock me into gear and get me writing stuff wot is good:) You know what helps that..? I bet you do… (hint: look down and left :D)

R xxx