No pertinent attacks surfaced in the Daily Prophet after the Friday incident of the Longbottoms' attack, and by the next morning they were listed as "in stable condition, albeit the warts" and due to leave St. Mungo's soon. Lily and her friends spent all of Saturday with James and the Marauders (and occasionally Caradoc Dearborn). It was very fun to do anything with that crowd, as Lily quickly realized, because of the potential for a ridiculous outburst at any moment. As Dorcas put it to the rest of the girls late Saturday evening, (her face being covered in custard from a friendly dispute) "You get the feeling that together those boys will do anything. Just about anything."

Being with Lily did not, however, totally reform James in every way. He and Sirius received their first detentions of the year at dinner on Sunday evening.

Peter was recounting a humorous tale concerning James and an elderly Muggle woman. It was Lily who had first noticed McGonagall's disapproving figure marching towards the Gryffindor table; and James and Sirius managed to contort their features into expressions of innocence by the time she reached the seventh years.

"Potter! You are Head Boy!" were the first words out of her mouth. James winced and Remus laughed, apparently knowing what was coming, while the girls watched with interest.

"Explosions!" snarled McGonagall. "Stinksap! Flying glass! Evan Rosier will have to piece together his Charms essay by magic; it was blown to smithereens—"

"He opened his inkwell then," said a smirking Sirius. McGonagall's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Yes he did, Black!" she spat. "And imagine my shock when he told me that James Potter and Sirius Black were the last to touch that same inkwell in their Ancient Runes class! Detention for the both of you! You'll be cleaning that Stinksap tonight, and make no mistake about leaving your wands in the tower. I can't believe the two of you, barely into the term—" McGonagall continued in this vein for quite some time, denouncing both James and Sirius and saying that if James couldn't control his magic, he couldn't keep his badge. At this point she had been winding down, but fired right back up when Sirius had the temerity to chuckle (quickly stifled) at this threat to James' title of Head Boy. With a final beady glare, McGonagall left the table just before dessert.

James sighed drastically and caught Lily's eye. She was looking at him severely, wondering how he could have pulled such a trick on Rosier without expecting to be caught. He grinned ruefully and reached for the Yorkshire pudding.

"Er…a momentary lapse? It is my first time trying to enforce the rules instead of, um…"

"Snapping them into little bits?" suggested Remus with a smile. James grinned even more broadly.

"Well, yes, that—"

"Shut up, Potter," muttered Lily, giving him a faint half-smile before taking some pudding for herself. What harm could there really be in going after the Slytherins? Secretly, Lily was slightly pleased that James hadn't collapsed into a puddle of politeness just to win her approval.

James exhaled, relieved that Lily had practically given him her permission to be his old self. It seemed as if Lily had realized what she had just done as well, for she added hastily,

"But don't be a prick about it." James opened his mouth and was cut off by Sirius' dry laugh.

"Prongs? A prick? Aside from the notable alliteration of the two words, whatever would lead you—"

"Padfoot, whenever you'd like to close your fat face, we'd appreciate it." Sirius just grinned smugly and dove into his carrots. Lily snorted at this vicious display of eating; she was finding out that being good friends with the Marauders often meant meals of this sort.

"Quick question," said Marlene. "Where d'you get your names from? Like—what are they? There's Padfoot and Prongs, and Moony, and Wormtail, is it? Why—"

"Well, Remus is a flasher—" began James as the girls erupted into fits of mirth (Remus did not look so amused). This only encouraged James, who began to spin elaborate tales that didn't make sense in the slightest. Lily got the strong impression that not only was James not telling the truth (not hard to glean while he went on about Sirius' inherited foot disease), but that he was also deliberately leading the conversation away from the true origins of the names. Lily thought that maybe they were something personal; Emmeline, Dorcas, and Marlene were all laughing hard. Sirius, Remus, and Peter were exchanging secretive looks, smirking about something.

Lily didn't mention anything then, and she didn't say anything later that night as she and James patrolled after his detention. At her request, James told her all about what he and Sirius had done to Rosier; and he certainly seemed eager to share. Even Lily had to admit, grudgingly, that it was fairly clever and that it definitely sent a clear message to their Slytherin brethren. When they kissed that night, Lily decided not to press James for all of his secrets yet. After all, they hadn't even gone to Hogsmeade yet…

Had to rescue James from becoming a goody-pansy in this chapter. Most LJ stories seem to get boring when they get their relationship together, which is dismal and useless.

The basic conflicts (basically reveals entire plan here) and external things are going to be (a) Slytherin scum, (b) fulfillments of prophesies, (c) incidents culminating in their joining of the Order of the Phoenix, and (d)er…the other stuff that would go on in this time period. And for anyone who is an enthusiast, don't think I've forgotten Quidditch.

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO READ AND REVIEWED!