Disclaimer: All characters belong to the queen J.K. Rowling and this is just a work of fanfiction.

Author notes:

Hi! I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY! You can guess my level of procrastination, right?

This story is inspired by 'They didn't know we were seeds' by LucyLuna. That story is mind-blowing and you should check it out.

Thank you for all the reviews, you guys are awesome!

Hope you like it! Enjoy!

I love my awesome beta, HogwartsDreamer113!

Chapter 12- The Room of Requirement

After their trip to the forbidden forest, the boys and Lily found themselves sitting in the Room of Requirement in the evenings. Remus and Lily preferred to complete their homework and research in the Room rather than their noisy common room. The boys were also experimenting with the room's ability to lock and secure themselves in for the approaching full moon. It was two weeks away, and from next week Remus would be sore with fevers, body pain and would come close to losing his legendary patience. Sirius used to joke that the irritation was because the wolf within missed hanging out with Artemis, the goddess of the moon. Remus would usually respond by whacking him on the head with a heavy book. Their trip to the forest had broken the remaining ice between the marauders and the lone Slytherin. Now Remus and Severus were often found discussing books, essays, spells. Lily often joined them while the rest of the boys took to shaking their heads and continuing their work.

The marauders also got many pranking insights from Severus. They knew Lily had good ideas, but they never expected it from Snape. He claimed it was due to surviving seven years of Weasley twins, but the marauders teased that he was a prankster at heart. They had already pranked Malfoy with an idea from the muggle story called Rapunzel. They had charmed his hair to grow so long that if they let it down from the Gryffindor tower, it should reach the ground. If anyone tried to cut it off, it would grow double the speed, double the length. Severus reported it took an hour and a half for Professor Slughorn to find the counter curse, and the dormitory was buried with mountains of blonde hair. It seems Malfoy had tried cutting it off a couple of times before giving up and calling the professor.

The experiments with the Room of Requirements were going without a hitch. They had asked for a safe place for Remus and had gotten a beautiful, dense forest. The forest was perfect for them to run around. On exploring, they found a clear stream that led to a small pond, a small clearing with soft grass and a cosy looking cave within the forest. They tried to find the end of the forest, but it felt infinite. Intrigued by this, Lily and Severus experimented with many other places. So far, they all visited a perfect replica of Venice, Italy and the Caribbean. The last was a favourite among all of them.

They often came back to the beach. They sat in hammocks tied to coconut trees, robes discarded and sleeves rolled up as they watched the sun set in the water. After dark, the room would light up with torches and campfires. Peter had gotten a packet of marshmallows from the kitchen, and they toasted them on the campfire. Sirius and James often dragged Peter and Remus into the water. James and Lily also went for a couple of long romantic walks on the infinite beach. On a rare occasion, Severus had also joined the lions in the water. Lily knew she would treasure that evening forever.

They also experimented with the room's ability to lock the marauders inside during moonrise. Sirius would enter the room and transform into his Animagus form. Lily and Severus would then try to enter the same room, and if the room would open, Sirius would "attack" them. When Lily and Severus tried to enter, they just saw a blank wall. Next, Sirius had asked for a normal room, and Lily tried entering while he was using it, but could not. It seemed when the room was occupied, someone else could not use it. If the person inside allowed or were expecting others, it would open, but not otherwise.

After their daily experiments, they asked for their usual study room and sat in comfortable armchairs and couches in front of a roaring fire. The room was a mixture of Gryffindor and Slytherin colours and had a very homey feeling to it. They loved the study as much as their common rooms. The room had a huge bookshelf, filled with many books on potions, healing, wards, defence and attacking strategies. Surprisingly, there were many books on the Dark Arts. Lily had given the task to Peter and Sirius to check them, and they had obediently gone and scoured all the books in search of any information relating to soul magic. They found a small reference to something called horcrux, but had no further details apart from mentioning it was one of the vilest practices. Sirius promised to do further research during the Christmas holidays.

The room had also given a beautiful potion lab area for Severus. James demanded for a list of all ingredients Severus would need and had mail ordered them. Severus and Lily had already brewed and stocked up on all the basic potions they might need. The wolfsbane potion was bubbling away in its cauldron, almost ready for Remus to drink. They had to be careful with the wolfsbane as it was not invented yet.

"I am hungry," whined Sirius.

"Then go down to the kitchen," replied Remus without looking up as he searched the index of a thick potion book.

"Why can't the room give us food? That's my requirement! This room isn't that great if it can't provide us food …" Sirius ranted, but before he could continue his sentence, he vanished. The rest looked up in alarm, while Severus didn't notice or he chose to ignore them as he added the last ingredients to the wolfsbane potion in the lab. Before they could decide whether to go look for Sirius or wait for him, they heard someone banging on the door. Lily rushed to open it and found a fuming Sirius standing there. His hair was covered with cobwebs and his trousers were wet in only one leg. He stomped inside and threw a dirty look at the portrait of a snake and lion sleeping above the fireplace.

"What happened?" James asked, barely stifling his laughter.

"I'll tell you what happened. I think Hogwarts has a very bad sense of humour. It threw me into an ancient broom cupboard! I don't think Filch has opened this one in years! But a bucket was perfectly positioned to greet me!" Sirius indicated his wet trouser leg as he threw himself into an armchair. There was a loud pop and the chair vanished, and Sirius fell to the ground in a heap. Everyone began sniggering as Sirius whipped out his wand and started threating the room.

"You know Black, this castle is sentient and she is very proud. You don't want to be kicked out, do you?" Severus drawled as he sat down in an armchair, wiping his hands in a waste cloth.

Sirius glared at him, and then slowly lowered his wand. Remus turned his attention back into his essay before bolted upright with an "OH!"

"What is it?" asked Peter.

"You know, this room can open a passage to Hog's Head and various other rooms in the castle. I am sure it can open to the kitchens too!" He said, excitedly.

"Whoa! We can visit Hogsmeade? How do you know this?" James asked, his mind already planning a trip to the village.

Remus cleared his throat nervously and glanced at Severus. "You know, the day I …" he trailed off. "Anyways, before the battle, we evacuated the younger students through this room into Hog's Head to escape the fight. I had heard couple of students commenting that the room opened many passages for them to escape the Carrows throughout the year."

"Let's go then! Can we have a passage to the kitchens please?" requested Peter in a sweet voice. He was answered by a door materialising to their right. Lily and Remus closed their books as the others were already crowding around the door. The door led to a huge circular staircase with torches. After walking down, a dizzying number of steps, the staircase ended behind a portrait. They pushed it open and stepped out to find the entrance of the kitchens to their right. They tickled the pear and were soon seated around a table with hot chocolate and biscuits.

"So, what do you think? The room is safe enough for me?" Remus asked with a hint of nervousness.

"Don't be so melodramatic Lupin. No one will be able to enter the room. You mutts will be safe inside," declared Severus as he helped himself to a sugar cookie. James, Peter and Sirius bristled at the name while Remus rolled his eyes.

"So, we just need to convince Dumbledore now. We still haven't talked to him about our situation yet…" added Remus.

"We will. It is quite late now. We will approach him tomorrow or the day after. We need to get him alone. I have seen Professor McGonagall staring at us when she thought we aren't looking. We need to be a bit more careful." James commented.

"Aww, come on. Minnie is the sweetest," Sirius exclaimed.

"Alright, that's enough, let's get going. I want to finish that book on warding before dinner," Lily announced as she stood up.

The three marauders stood and bowed to Lily with a chorus of "Yes, your highness" and ran off before Lily could hex them. Remus and Severus rolled their eyes and walked back with Lily towards the kitchen entrance. They climbed through the secret door back to their study in the Room of Requirement, pushing, joking, and teasing each other with a smile on all their faces, each of them thinking the same thing. They were happy to have another chance at living again.