Just one thing guys – why do I write fanfiction? For reviews, of course! So review, and validate my otherwise meaningless existence! (that sounds a lot more sad than I had intended)

Please check out my other fics, particularly 'Ratted Out' for Sirius fans, and 'One Black Sheep', for those interested in fluffy romance (it's Andromeda/Ted).

Disclaimer: Characters and setting are the creation of the fabulous JK Rowling. So … not mine.

Chapter the second: All's Fair in Love and War

Lily Evans was a challenge.

James Potter did not back away from a challenge.

That, in all honesty, summed up his problem. The more she rejected him, the more he wanted her. His friends would have been the first ones to admit that if she ever chose to show even the slightest interest in him he would quickly lose all enthusiasm for the chase.

James Potter was a Chaser not just on the quidditch pitch. That was the general conclusion.

Classes had started up again and the 6th years were quickly swamped under with homework. Even James and Sirius, top students in the year, could occasionally be caught in the library, poring over their textbooks. And for the first week it seemed that the massive workload might even keep the usual exploits of the Marauders at bay. Seven days passed and not one Slytherin turned up in the hospital wing – well, except for a couple of first years who got on the wrong side of the Whomping Willow, and that could hardly be blamed on Gryffindor's infamous foursome.

However, at least one thing was back to normal.

'Potter, I really wish you would just leave me alone,' Lily sighed.

'I'm not doing anything, sweetheart. Am I doing anything, Sirius?'

'You're not going to drag me into this one, James.'

'Just give me some room, will you?' Lily snapped, as James leaned over her shoulder in Charms. 'I can't concentrate.'

'I do apologise, my dear,' James grinned. 'You have that effect on me as well.'

Lily shuddered and raised her fingers to her temples.

'Potter, if you don't back off right now …'

'I'm not touching you, love. I can't help it if my presence sends you into fits of ecstasy, can I?'

Lily reached for her wand and gripped it tightly. James grinned but, recognising that he had succeeded in annoying her, settled back into his seat behind Lily, winking at Sirius as he did so.

'You're a git, Prongs,' Sirius muttered with a broad grin.

James shrugged. 'I'm just pushing her buttons,' he said lightly. 'You know, kidding around. Life's too short to be serious all the time. Besides,' he grinned even wider, 'she likes me really. Don't you, Evans?' he added loudly.

'Shove it, Potter,' Lily muttered.

James laughed. 'I'm going to take that as a yes,' he told her.

Lily's resolve finally snapped – it seemed she could take it no longer. She raised her wand as if she were about to curse him, but at the last second she thought better of it and simply swept herself off to sit with one of her girlfriends on the other side of the room.

'You know, James – you might stand a better chance with Lily if you weren't annoying her all the time,' Remus said mildly. 'Just a suggestion.'

James shrugged again. He was in a good mood today – the full moon was in a week and he was excited to be out and about with the lads once more. He also hadn't seen much of Snape since school had begun. Not only that, but Sirius's good mood looked as though it was here to stay – good news for them all.

'Don't worry about it, Moony,' he said good-naturedly. 'I'm just joking. I know she'll never say yes – I'm just trying to get her mad.'

The boys exchanged a glance behind James's back.

'Why?' Peter asked finally.

James laughed. 'Why not, Wormtail? Mainly, though – she just gets on my nerves.'

Sirius grinned at Remus and winked.

'I guess that the path to love never did run smoothly, eh Moony?'

Remus laughed. James diplomatically ignored them both.

'This week's gone real quick, I reckon,' he said. 'And I haven't even seen much of old Snivelly at all.'

'I saw him yesterday,' Sirius said, still laughing at James. 'He's just as vile as ever. Slimy git.'

'Did you say anything to him?' Remus asked, and James noted that Remus's expression was calculating.

Sirius shrugged. 'I might've said something …' he looked distant as he tried to remember. 'Oh yeah, I did. I said; 'Impedimentia!''

He flourished his wand as he demonstrated the curse – the desk that Lily Evans had previously occupied was sent crashing into the blackboard. Flitwick turned to the four boys with a glare.

'Sorry Professor!' Sirius called with a grin, as James and Peter roared with laughter and Remus did his very best to look disapproving. He was sort of smiling too, though.

'Detention, Mr Black!' the professor squeaked. 'And clean up that mess!'

'Certainly, sir!' Sirius agreed with a mock bow as he flicked his wand lazily at the destruction he had created. It quickly righted itself, and Sirius sat back down. Lily Evans, who had been glaring at the boys from the other side of the room, flicked her red hair around and determinedly looked the other way.

'Way to go, Padfoot,' James sniggered. 'I hope it went better with old Snivellus.'

'Well, as he's currently sporting a lovely shiner on his right eye, I'd say it did,' Sirius smirked. James and Peter grinned appreciatively. Remus rolled his eyes, but he was smiling too.

--

Lily frowned and sighed over the essay McGonagall had set. Transfiguration had never been her favourite or her best subject. She had a private opinion that in order to be any good at it, you had to be a complete prat like Black or Potter.

She had a natural aptitude for most other branches of magic – particularly Charms and Potions – but Transfiguration stubbornly evaded her best efforts to come to grips with it. Consequently she loathed the entire subject, and just glancing at the textbook was enough to give her a headache.

Lily didn't like textbooks at the best of times. She usually got by pretty well on natural talent.

Next to her, Peter Pettigrew groaned and buried his face in his arms. They were in the library with Remus for the first of the tutoring sessions that McGonagall had set up. Lily wasn't overly thrilled with the concept of spending two nights of every week helping the two Gryffindor boys – their friendship with Black and Potter made it difficult for her to relax in their company. Even though she found them less objectionable than their notorious friends, she still wasn't prepared to say that she liked either of them.

Remus, as her fellow prefect, was the only one of the four boys that she spoke to on a regular basis, and the only one with whom she would allow herself to be on first-name terms. She got the sense that he truly could be responsible if he set his mind to it, and she hated to think what exploits Potter and Black might get up to if they didn't have him around. But all the same, Remus's inability to exercise any public control over his two best friends, and the fact that he was constantly sticking up for them even when they were at their very worst, meant that Lily had little to no patience with the quietest Marauder.

As for Pettigrew … Lily regarded him with the same dislike she held for Potter and Black, tinged with a little bit of pity. He clearly hero-worshiped the pair of them (for what reason, Lily would never understand) and was often to be found hanging off their every word or chattering excitedly about their latest misadventure. However, she hardly had any reason to dislike him in particular – he scarcely spoke when she was around, being far too afraid of her to dare a single sentence. Lily preferred it that way. She only wished that Potter would develop the same anxiety whenever she was in the room – it would save her a lot of grief.

'What's the matter now, Pettigrew?' she demanded in a world-weary voice.

He mumbled something into his shirt sleeves. Remus smiled, though Lily hadn't understood a word.

'What was that?'

'He says that if he never sees another cauldron again, it'll be too soon,' Remus told her, flicking a page of his textbook.

'Hmph,' Lily grumbled, not caring for Pettigrew's apathy towards her favourite class. 'Get back to your notes – you can't afford to waste time moaning.'

Pettigrew sighed and raised himself up using his elbows. He slumped at the desk, staring morosely at the sheaf of parchment in front of him, which was covered in his untidy handwriting and scattered with the precise lettering of Lily's notes, which were in red ink.

'I hate this stuff,' he whined. 'I don't even know why we have to take potions again, you know. We're no good at it – can't they accept that and let us get on with our lives?'

Remus chuckled to himself. 'I guess they don't want to send a pair of wizards out into the world when they can't even mix a decent swelling solution, right Lily?'

'Good answer, Remus,' Lily muttered. 'Now, come on, you two. Potions isn't so hard, you know. It's just a matter of getting the method right and concentrating – Pettigrew, if you're falling asleep while I'm talking to you I will go straight to McGonagall; so help me I will.'

Pettigrew shook himself awake. Remus laughed at his friend. Lily scowled at them.

'You two aren't making this very easy, you know,' she told them. 'Potter and Black aren't here, you don't have to act like gits to be accepted.'

'Come on, Lily – we're not doing it on purpose,' Remus said bracingly. 'Five years with James and Sirius is bound to rub off on us sooner or later.'

Lily just rolled her eyes and tried to go back to her essay.

'They're not that bad, you know,' Remus went on. 'They just like to have a bit of fun – where's the harm in that?'

Lily shook her head. 'If you want my help this year, Lupin, you're going to have to quit sticking up for them. I don't want to hear about it. I don't want to know about it. I only wish they'd go away and leave me al-'

But she never got to the end of her wish, because at that moment she trailed off, staring at the door of the library. Remus and Peter turned in their seats to follow her gaze.

'Oh, now that's just perfect,' Lily muttered sarcastically, as a group of Slytherins from their year entered the room and made their way to a table on the opposite side of a towering bookshelf. 'Just what we need. Stop looking, you two – you'll only make it worse.'

The boys went back to their notes, and the three Gryffindors tried to keep their heads down. Lily didn't want to say it, but it was times like these that she would have been glad to have Potter and Black about – at least then the confrontation would be over and done with quickly. There was always a conflict between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Lily kept hoping that if she didn't draw attention to herself they might just leave her alone.

It never worked, though.

'They look like they're going to come over here,' Peter muttered, glancing over his shoulder. 'Maybe we should go get James and Sirius.'

'No,' Lily hissed. 'We've got every right to be in here and besides, we can look after ourselves.'

'Speak for yourself,' Peter whimpered, as a tall, thin boy named Rabastan Lestrange pushed back his chair and, with a grin and a wink at his friends, began to make his way over to the Gryffindors. A few of the other Slytherins – at least four – followed him.

Lily shot Peter a Look to tell him to stay where he was, and calmly went back to her essay.

'What's going on here?' Lestrange asked in a drawling, mocking voice. Lily didn't look up.

'None of your business,' she said. Remus and Peter took a sudden deep interest in their Potions work.

'Cosy little Gryffindor study session, is it?' The Slytherins chuckled at Lestrange's joke. 'And where are Potter and Black?'

'Detention, most likely,' spoke up one of the Slytherins standing behind Lestrange – Severus Snape. The others laughed. Lily saw Peter retreat more into studying his notes, and Remus bristle with anger.

Lily bravely looked up at Lestrange, who was leaning over her work.

'Look, we don't want any trouble,' she said firmly.

Lestrange grinned, showing slightly yellow teeth.

'I say too bad, mudblood, because you've found it.'

Lily's chair scraped angrily on the floor as she stood up, drawing her wand. Remus was at her side.

'Say that again, I dare you,' she said dangerously.

Lestrange just smiled.

'OUT!' screamed the librarian. 'Out, get out – there'll be no fighting in here, get out!' She swooped down on them all, grabbing the sleeve of Lily's robe and prodding Remus in the back as she shooed them out of the library. The Slytherins roared with laughter as Peter scooped up all their books and followed them.

They stood in the corridor for a moment, listening to Madam Pince, who was now violently shushing the Slytherin 6th years. Lily sighed.

'Sorry, I lost my temper.'

'That's all right,' Remus said with a smile. 'They're gits.'

'No kidding,' Peter agreed. 'You should've cursed them.'

'Well, I thank you for your advice, but I don't plan on joining Potter and Black in detention any time soon.' Remus and Peter laughed at the thought of Lily Evans being on detention with James and Sirius.

'We can finish studying in the common room, I suppose,' Lily offered.

Remus shook his head. 'James and Sirius dropped a dungbomb, remember? That's why we went to the library in the first place.'

Lily groaned. 'Of course they did.'

'We could go up to our dormitory,' Peter suggested.

Remus shrugged. 'I guess.'

Lily looked sceptical. 'What do you take me for? I'm not going in there – something might jump out and attack me!'

'The only thing that would do that would be James, and he's safely locked up in detention as usual,' Remus assured her. 'Come on, Lily. Pete and I really need your help, and our dormitory is basically clean – there's butterbeer and chocolate frogs, too, that James and Sirius nicked from the kitchens. What do you say?'

Lily sighed.

'Chocolate frogs, did you say?' she asked, relenting. Remus grinned.

--

'Another detention well served!' Sirius announced as he entered the boys' dormitory later that evening. 'That Slughorn's a decent sort of chap, you know – we had a good old chat. Hello, what's all this?'

Lily looked up guiltily. Remus shrugged and Peter was snoring – he had fallen asleep somewhere in the middle of the compound poisons chapter.

'Tutoring session for potions,' Remus explained. 'Want to join us?'

Sirius snorted and grabbed a chocolate frog from the pile next to Lily.

'Not bloody likely,' he grinned. Lily shuffled over on the bed as Sirius plonked himself down next to her.

'Aw, Evans, I'm not so bad. And unlike James, I'm not trying to get you into a deserted corridor anytime soon, so you've got nothing to worry about.'

Lily didn't say anything – she had a feeling that it would be easier to retain her composure if she didn't rise to Black's bait. Remus cleared his throat.

'James still in detention, then?'

Sirius shrugged. 'Guess so. I'll check up on him if you like.' He reached under the bed and pulled out what appeared to be a perfectly ordinary mirror. He held it up so that he could see his own face clearly and cleared his throat.

'James Potter.'

The surface of the mirror swirled. Lily watched it interestedly as it slowly focussed in on an image of Potter, who was sitting despondently at a desk, writing lines. He looked up furtively and then cracked a grin in their direction.

'Out already, Padfoot? No such luck for me, I'm afraid,' he whispered. 'McGonagall's landed me with Filch.'

'Too bad, mate,' Sirius replied sympathetically. 'Here, chat to the lovely Lily Evans for a while, it might cheer you up.' He shoved the mirror into Lily's protesting hands.

'Black, I want no part in this! I don't want to talk to him!'

'Aw, go on. The poor lad's miserable, can't you see? Fate worse than death, detention with Filch.'

'He's right you know,' James said with a grin. 'Thankfully he can't hear me at the moment thanks to a great little charm I got off old Snivellus.'

'Potter, I'm not really all that interested in the many methods you employ to cause trouble.'

'Anyone might think that you weren't happy to see me, Lily-flower,' James pouted. Then he frowned. 'Hey, isn't that – are you in our dormitory?'

'Moony and Wormtail let her up,' Sirius explained, taking the mirror back from Lily, who looked about ready to smash it into a million pieces. 'He's trying to fob off some ridiculous excuse about a Potions tutorial, but I could see through that a mile off.' He winked at Remus who shook his head amusedly.

'Brilliant. Lily Evans in our dormitory and I'm not there to take advantage of it.' He frowned, as Sirius burst out laughing. 'I mean … Merlin's Beard, you're going to really hurt me for that, aren't you Evans?'

'Your amazing powers of deduction at work again, Potter,' Lily said huffily. 'I think that's enough study for tonight, Remus,' she added, scooping up her books. 'I'll see you later.'

'Goodbye, Lily,' Remus called as she slammed the dormitory door shut behind her. He was laughing to himself – he couldn't help it.

'Bye, Lily!' Sirius called with a grin. 'You really are going to pay for that one, Prongs. First time Moony's managed to get a girl up here and you went and scared her away!'

Remus blushed. James laughed sarcastically.

'Oh ha ha. You're all gits, do you know that? Especially you, Padfoot.'

'Not as big a git as you, mate,' Sirius retorted.

'I'll see you later,' James muttered, rolling his eyes. The mirror went black and then went back to reflecting Sirius's face.

Sirius chuckled to himself as he took another piece of chocolate.

'Poor old Jamesie,' he commented. 'How come you were up here anyway? I thought you were doing your tutorial in the library.'

Remus shrugged. 'Oh, you know how it is. Lestrange and associated peanut galley turned up, Lily threatened to curse them, and we got chucked out.'

Sirius stared at him. 'Hold up a second,' he said incredulously. 'Lily Evans, Miss Prefect Lily Evans – Prongsie's Lily Evans – got chucked out of the library?'

Remus nodded. 'Lestrange and his buddies called her 'mudblood'. She must get terribly sick of that sort of thing.'

'I can imagine,' Sirius murmured thoughtfully. 'James will want to know about this.'

Remus rolled his eyes. 'Yeah, and then he'll go and curse Snape, and then Lily will get mad at him, and he'll be right back where he started. If he's lucky they might even throw him off the quidditch team.'

Sirius laughed his usual bark-like laugh. 'Just as sarcastic as ever, Moony. Besides, that's all James's problem, not mine – all except the quidditch thing, and I seriously doubt that McGonagall would kick him off the team unless he actually murders someone. Get a grip – you know James loves protecting dear Lily's honour, and the rest of us love seeing Slytherins get their just desserts.'

'Padfoot, you're just going to get the both of you into deep trouble.'

Sirius shrugged and grinned as he reached for a bottle of butterbeer. 'We're both always in trouble one way or another, Moony,' he said lightly. 'May as well be in trouble for bringing justice down on the heads of those slimy gits I'm related to.'

--

'Damn gits!' James slammed his bottle of butterbeer down on his nightstand. Sirius had just finished giving him the full account of Lestrange's insult to Lily, with Remus's quiet corrections going unnoticed for the most part.

'Good on Evans for standing up to them, but they still got away with it, didn't they?' James looked furious. 'That settles it; bugger playing nice this year. That Lestrange bastard is going to get a taste of justice whether he likes it or not!'

'Now that's what I'm talking about!' Sirius whooped. 'We've been too soft on them so far this year – we've got to remind them that the Marauders are still here, and still ready to punish them for being the slimy toads that they are!'

'Damn right you are, Padfoot!' James agreed.

Remus sighed and pulled the covers over his head, knowing that his conscience would be no clearer no matter what he heard.

--

'Lestrange and his pals still appear to be the right colour,' Remus commented idly at breakfast the next day. 'You two are showing an uncharacteristic amount of restraint.'

James looked up from a piece of parchment he had been working on – Remus had originally assumed it to be a letter or a late assignment, but was disappointed to discover that it was covered in what appeared to be a very intricate map of the dungeons.

'We're planning big this time, Moony,' he said with a maniacal grin.

Remus sighed. He tried in vain to dissuade them once again.

'Aren't you worried about the quidditch team, James?'

James shook his head and laughed. 'No way! No one will know it's us, Moony. Trust me. I've got it all thought out.'

'You always say that, but McGonagall always knows that it's you …' Remus murmured. But no one heard him, because Sirius was talking.

'You know, Evans is going to kill you for this,' he said conversationally to James.

James appeared not to hear him.

'There! Does that look right to you, Pads?'

Sirius studied the map critically. 'Yeah, I'd say so. So if we set up a watch here and here …'

Remus buried his head in his hands. They said that all was fair in love and war, and he knew his friend James took that saying to heart sometimes. Remus, for his part, hoped that everything would go smoothly for them, if only because he couldn't bear to have to be the one to say 'I told you so'.