It had all started a few weeks earlier when Lily Evans was bored.

She spent most of her life in a damn castle learning about potions, magical creatures and spells for god sake. Summer spent in a Cokeworth suburb packed to the rafters with muggles who weren't to know anything about magic by law was bound to be boring in comparison.

All of her friends (including herself) had passed their apparition tests since coming of wizarding age over the past schooling year. During the time off the four of them met up continually; she'd introduced Daxia to the delights of a muggle fairground, Mary had taken her shopping around Liverpool, the four of them regularly headed to Diagon Alley for tea…

Yet she hadn't been able to wait to get back to Hogwarts after the remaining two weeks, to be out of the house full-time.

You see; her sister was getting married. Crazy, controlling, Lily-hating Petunia Evans was officially obsessed and Lily herself couldn't wait to be free of the hassle. Dress magazines, centrepiece designing, even cake testing had become boring to the young witch. Along with the glares and mutterings of the word 'freak' when their mother wasn't paying attention bringing the whole mood down even further of course; ever since she had received her Hogwarts letter Petunia had disapproved. She hated the fact that he sister was different, hated the fact that her parents found Lily, her talent and her studies fascinating while Petunia herself had to work especially hard to gain whatever qualifications she could knowing that her parents wouldn't gush over her results with their friends as they weren't able to with Lily and it would be unfair.

Though hoping for something, anything, to bring her out of her boredom Lily had found herself frowning one particularly sunny day as a loud cracking sound came from outside her front door. Muting the television (one perk to being back living as a muggle) she sat up from where she'd been lounging across the sofa, sending Shadow scattering off to more than likely snuggle down on her bed, in time to hear a loud knock echo through the house.

Had someone really apparated onto her front porch?

Slowly getting to her feet she had felt the pocket of her jeans to ensure she had her wand on her person (she did); Daxia was hiding out away from her family with Mary and her family in France for the week while Adiya had flown over to visit relatives in California the previous day. There was no other person in the magical world who would just randomly appear on her doorstep. Apart from maybe Remus but she knew it wasn't long after the full moon and he would definitely be resting.

"Potter?"

He'd grinned as his eyes surveyed his surroundings "Crazy isn't it?"

Leaning against her doorframe with her arms loosely crossed over her stomach she found herself frowning "What're you doing here?" she asked; James Potter didn't belong in a muggle suburb, growing up with a family of magical people he'd never really had to hide his use and knowledge of magic before "And how did you find where I live?"

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies."

"Daxia," Lily huffed knowing it could have only been their mutual friend who had spilled the beans, none of the Marauders had ever been to her home before and she couldn't see either Mary or Adiya giving up the information easily.

Infuriatingly James had merely shrugged.

"Potter! Why are you here!"

She had watched as he chuckled and reached into his pocket "Got something to show you Evans, pretty sure you'll like it," he answered finally, extending his hand to show her a small round badge laying in the centre of his palm.

"I…is that…it?"

James nodded a confirmation "Dumbledore's a crazy old fool eh?"

It had taken a few hours before James was able to convince her he was telling the truth and that he and Daxia (who'd written to her the day before) weren't pulling yet another prank. They had moved to her old treehouse (Lily terrified Petunia would come home early and freak out seeing another wizard in her home) with mugs of hot chocolate (James had been amazed by the kettle) and James's Hogwarts letter.

"So we're gunna be partners eh Red?"

Lily frowned to him over the brim of her mug "I wouldn't go that far Potter."

Chuckling he also took a sip from his warm beverage "I'm sure I can convince you otherwise."

He had pulled it off; of course he'd pulled it off. He had moved the conversation swiftly on to questions on a few of the other muggle items he'd spotted on his journey through her living room. She had giggled at his amazement; he'd made her promise to properly show him the television.

The longer they spent in each other's company the more she found herself allowing him to get into her head. They lounged around the living room, a sofa each, while her mother and Petunia were out at work, they moved back into the tree house (a gift from her father who had spent almost a year building it for her as a project with his old friends before he had died. A gift she had used frequently to hide away from Petunia during her summer visits home) to talk some more before she'd leave him to sleep.

It took until Petunia had discovered James (an unfortunate morning when she had headed outside for some air only to see James hanging out of the window awaiting Lily's return) and he had left before a scene could be caused and before Lily realised it.

It had felt like a hole had somehow been put in her life. She tried to visit Daxia and Mary with no joy, she spent her days reading up on her N.E.W.T subjects or planting doubts in Petunia's mind on the centrepieces she had chosen for the table; none of which brought a smile to her lips.

She missed him.

She missed James bloody Potter and she had never been more annoyed.

The feeling lasted throughout the beginning of the schooling year, no matter how much she had tried to snap at him when they first met back up. He had charmed practically every single prefect in the carriage on the way without as much as a glance her way. He had existed in the common room and their lessons without irritating her (on purpose) too much.

And she missed him.

They had started their head duties easily. They met up in the prefect office to organise patrols, they dealt with Hogsmeade trips and Quidditch practises, they wandered the corridors together just before curfew when it was their turn to ensure everyone was in bed (crashing a few broom closet dates on their routes).

At first their conversations had been forced but his compelling personality and her chatty nature pushed through that with ease. They discussed Daxia and Sirius, their school work and general Hogwarts gossip. They laughed as they talked, found they enjoyed the same muggle music and had read similar books.

It had taken a couple of weeks before he had turned up with a sheepish look on his face and the request of staying in the office rather than traipsing around their normal path. She had folded her arms over her chest and arched an eyebrow, questioning him on how they were going to go about keeping an eye on the corridors when they were tied to one room?

That was when he had produced the map and let her in on the second of the Marauders' greatest secrets.

He had smiled across to her as she'd stared down in amazement to the scale version of the Hogwarts corridors, the small dots moving around as the people they were representing went about their business. He'd practically beamed when she voiced her impression at their ability and how grateful she was that he'd let her in on their secrets.

"I didn't mean for it to happen this way y'know," he had mumbled as he'd reclined back in his seat, propping his feet up on the desk beside the map as she continued to study every inch of it.

"What d'you mean?" she'd asked without looking up "Why did you bring it tonight then?"

"Not the map," he answered, rocking on his chair as he ran a hand through his messy hair "The…animagi thing. I had a plan and it wasn't to push the news onto Daxia to tell you believe me."

This caught her attention and she dragged her eyes away from the map "A plan? Really?"

He nodded once, a smile lifting one side of his mouth as he regarded her almost nervously "You're Lily Evans of course I had a plan." His heart had jumped as a blush scattered across her cheekbones "Maybe I could…show you sometime? Like in the way that I'd planned?"

It was her turn to beam as he spoke, practically spinning around on her chair in excitement "Really?" she questioned as her eyebrows rose, remembering how Daxia still tried to keep her 'other form' a secret from her "You'd show me?"

He looked puzzled as he stared back at her "Of course I'd show you."

Her back had straightened as a pleased look passed across her face; he had let her in to two of the biggest secrets the Marauders kept hidden from public view with ease. He had trusted her with information only the people closest to him were in on; not even Daxia had even hinted she'd known that they had secrets let alone specified.

Relaxing into his company with her hand lying on his forearm she directed him back to the map "Hey look! There's Dax!"

"Here," Daxia said once she'd struggled through the portrait hole throwing everyone's orders from the kitchens to them "Thanks for the help by the way."

"No probs sweetie," Sirius grinned as he bit into his pasty, leaning back in his chair he put his feet up on the table in front of the roaring fire "How were the house elves?" he asked as she sat down beside him with a thunderous look on their face "Offend you with their willingness to work?"

"It wasn't them it was my cousins," Daxia replied before continuing on when she noticed the angered looks being thrown her way "Bumped into them near the Slytherin common room."

"What were you doing that far down?" Adiya questioned suspiciously as she munched on her donut.

"Hoping to bump into them," Daxia answered sheepishly "They're my only family guys!" she whined when she noticed all of the irritated looks she was now receiving from each and every one of her friends (apart from James and Lily of course who were currently on their head duties) "Anyway they acted crazy weird yet again, Rod kept rubbing the forearm of his left arm after I accidentally, literally, bumped into him."

Sirius glanced over to a concerned looking Remus who passed the look across to Peter.

Daxia huffed "What now guys?" she pressed; if they were going to share secretive looks about her cousins she wanted to know exactly why. Everyone in Hogwarts, including the professors, knew a glance passed between Marauders always meant something.

"You're not going to like it," Sirius answered her in a warning tone, shuffling towards the other end of the sofa away from her, continuing on when she sent him a glare "There's this rumour floating around that when this You Know Who bloke accepts people into those Death Eaters of his he gives them a…mark. On their forearm."

"Apparently it's kinda like a way of passing messages between themselves," Remus continued the explanation, Daxia moving her terrified gaze across to him "When they're needed by…him the mark burns and they, well, they go. Y'know. Apparently."

Mary was looking over to them with a look of disbelief "And you know that how?"

Sirius smirked, the air of the over confident Marauder back "Amazing what you hear when you're the Marauders, eh Dax?" he winked knowing she'd understand he meant the invisibility cloak.

Mary rolled her eyes "You guys are gunna get yourselves killed."

"Naaah!" Sirius exclaimed waving her off casually "You're underestimating us Bug-" (as in lovebug, an embarrassing nickname Benji had dared to utter in front of the Marauders in their sixth year. Mary scowled, hating nothing more) "-the Marauder's will never die!"

"Anyway!" Daxia exclaimed bringing the attention back to the original subject at hand before Sirius could launch into some sort of Marauder loyalty speech "You really think Rodolphus and Rabastan have joined these…Death Eaters?"

"I would hate to think about it," replied Remus with a thoughtful look "I'm sure Dumbledore is keeping an eye out for these types of things but we've been keeping our eyes out ever since Mulciber attacked Mary last year," he said, Daxia reaching over to grasp onto the paling Mary's hand. It had been awful but Mulciber had been expelled and they'd assumed it was over with "It's a scary thought though right? To think he could have people here?" Remus continued, glancing around his friends.

"I think it's exciting," Sirius spoke up ignoring Daxia glaring his way as she elbowed him in the side "No just think! We could help! Instead of feeling like we were stuck here in the safe zone it would feel like we were out there helping save our community instead of being, y'know, useless."

Peter grinned up to his friend as he nodded in agreement (which didn't mean much…Peter Pettigrew would agree with pretty much anything said by any of his best friends). Opposite Benji arched an eyebrow towards the Marauder "That is true," he approved slowly going against his normal, sensible nature "What?" he asked the girls as they glared across to him almost in shock, he was normally the one to bring the boys back down to earth. He'd laugh at their ideas while being the one who'd shake his head and send them back to the drawing board when they became too over confident "We all wanted to be aurors once! Look at the subjects we chose for our N.E.W.T.S!"

With Sirius beaming Remus reluctantly agreed, knowing (due to his furry-little-problem) he would be unable to join the auror office he would have liked to think he could contribute to this war in some way or another "We should keep our eyes out," he said causing Sirius to clap his hands in delight.

Before Daxia was able to voice her concerns, her issue with that fact that they were accusing her cousins of joining the darkest set of wizards the world had seen since Grindlewald, James wandered in. Hands in his pockets and a smile on his face she didn't think she'd ever seen him more relaxed after an extended amount of time with Lily "Alri' guys."

"Where's Lil?" Adiya asked, glancing up from the book lying on her lap.

"Forgot something in the prefect office," he shrugged, "Doubled back to get it."

Sirius sat up quickly "She can't be alone in the castle!" he exclaimed overdramatically, his dark hair flying around his face "She's a muggleborn!"

James frowned in confusion "Padfoot mate. It's been like seven years since you were sorted into Gryffindor. You're a Black in name but not in opinion…remember?"

Rolling his eyes at his mate's comments Sirius turned to Remus for help "If we think there are Death Eaters in the school, working for Voldemort would you say it's safe for Lily, a muggleborn, to be wandering around the corridors alone?"

Coughing on a shocked gasp James glanced around his group of friends "You think there are Death Eaters in the castle?" he asked "I've got the map, grab the cloak!"

As the boys rushed off, Daxia jumping to follow them, Adiya exchanged a confused glance with Mary and Benji before they joined "What map and cloak?"

How on earth did a witch manage to forget her wand?

Lily Evans shook her head as she wandered back towards the prefects' office. She had figured out she'd left the most important object in her magical life behind as her and James had reached the halfway point between the common room and their office. He'd teased her so she'd sent him on ahead.

She found herself grinning, chewing on her bottom lip as a blush scattered along her cheekbones, when she thought of James Potter teasing her. They'd clashed their entire time at Hogwarts, he knew exactly which buttons to press to irritate her and she kept her emotions on show. She could be as stubborn as a mule while no one could call James anything but persistent (of course, not in a bad way…just mildly irritating). Him turning up on her doorstep during the most boring summer of her life had somehow changed her view. They'd gotten along surprisingly well; he'd made her laugh, blush and open up. He distracted her from the wedding plans, from the snapping of the word freak from Petunia every now and then.

It was when they finally allowed themselves to be, well, themselves, around one another that they'd realised the irritating banter passing between one another had been silly.

She still hadn't found herself forgiving Petunia who, wondering where that freak of a sister of hers was disappearing off too (hoping it was something which would end up in expulsion from the magical world), had found him staying in their (surprisingly homely) tree house and become the reason behind him leaving. Saying this she couldn't help but feel she had to also thank her elder sister. If it hadn't been for her missing James in that short time he was gone she would never have allowed that niggling doubt to enter her mind, she would never have started her journey to this moment in time where she found herself fancying James Potter.

She frowned as she heard footsteps echoing down the hallway behind her. Thinking it to be James catching her up she turned around with a smile on her face "I…what are you doing here?" she questioned when she recognised the figure approaching her, the smile slipping from her lips as a confused expression replaced it.

Without answering the figure raised their wand, a morbid look of excitement on their face while pointing it towards an unarmed Lily, and uttered "Crucio!"

A loud gasp filled the redhead's lungs as she dropped to her knees, pain engulfing every single part of her body. She felt as though she was burning from the inside out, as though each and every one of her bones were breaking over and over again. She screamed in both agony and fear though was unsure any sound actually escaped her throat.

As her head felt like it was going to explode…she was sure she was going to die…

"HEY!"

Relief flooded through her veins as the pain subsided, allowing her to slump against the cold concrete ground as her saviours raced down the long corridor.

She could hear Mary and Benji fire their own hexes toward her attacker, could hear Remus, Adiya and Peter call their threats as they chased after that dark figure who'd tortured her with one of the Unforgivable curses.

Someone knelt behind her while another crouched by her head. A hand smoothed down her hair as another checked her pulse. She tried to groan, to make any noise, to let them know that, though she may not be okay, she was alive. No sound left her burning throat.

"Sirius! Do something for fuck sake!" the person in front of her, the one smoothing her hair comfortingly and who she recognised to be James, exclaimed. She fluttered her eyelashes to see a blurry outline of Sirius Black staring down the corridor after their angered friends.

"Sirius!" Daxia, the person kneeling behind her with a hand on her side and the other supporting her head, practically growled "What are you doing?! Come on!"

If Lily could see him properly the first thing she'd notice were his ashen features, the haunted and almost guilty look in his eyes as he muttered "I…I think that was Bella," his fingers grasped onto his hair as he glanced down to his broken looking friend, certain he had seen her named dot on the map as they raced toward Lily "My cousin…she…"

"C'mon mate, we need to get Lily to the hospital wing," James insisted and Sirius jumped to action. The two Marauders, with Daxia helping, lifted Lily to her feet. Draping her arms over their shoulders James nudged her "You think you can walk Red?"

She tried to nod, tried to shrug but nothing seemed to be working correctly. After tensing up and taking that amount of pain her body seemed to have just given up. Instead she allowed her head to roll over to lean on James's shoulder.

"Dax you take my place and I'll grab her legs," James said, Lily wished she could protest, before she felt them swapping places. Her legs were swept out from beneath her much to her silent annoyance "Let's get her to Madam Pomfrey."

The journey down to the hospital wing was eventful to say the least. Regaining the use of her body slowly Lily began to struggle, not wanting to rely on them to carry her. Daxia scolded her as they walked while James joked about there being a time and a place to be an independent woman. No matter how hard she tried to walk on her own he kept a hold of her legs while Sirius and Daxia's hands didn't leave her back.

She had insisted she wanted to go back to the common room but they ignored her. She didn't want the fuss, didn't want people whispering and gossiping about her behind her back about how she was attacked because of her parentage.

"Evans!" Sirius exclaimed, slowing them down as he interrupted another of her protests "You've been hit by an Unforgivable Curse! We're taking you to be properly checked out whether you like it or not!"

She had shut up then. Glancing around to the people helping her towards the hospital wing she couldn't help but smile. Daxia was looking across to Sirius with a soft expression on her face, the tears of worry for her best friend still shining in her chocolate brown eyes. James was grinning to her cheekily, both of her legs draped over his arms as he tried to make her smile without speaking. She hadn't thought she'd ever find friends as amazing as the ones surrounding her at that moment, especially after losing Severus in such an awful manner. When he'd told her about Hogwarts neither of them could have predicted the relationships they'd have the opportunity to be a part of, especially once Lily was made fully aware of the prejudice against muggleborns.

Neither of the childhood friends would have predicted she would find herself surrounded by a Black, a Lestrange and a Potter. As she glanced up to her friends one more time, a surge of love for each warming her chest, she doubted she could be happier.

Madam Pomfrey had gasped as they burst through the hospital wing doors, launching into action as they rested Lily on one of the comfortable beds lining the wall "Have you told Professor Dumbledore?" was her first question once they'd relayed their tale, she nodded when they told her they'd sent a whole crowd of their friends to the headmaster's office.

It didn't take long for her to shoo them away, send them back to their common room with the assurance she'd look after their friend. Lily had smiled weakly as she raised her arm to wave them off.

They'd passed a furious looking Dumbledore in the corridor as they headed back up to the common room.

She was breathless by the time she had finally reached the dungeons. Stumbling through the door she was met by a dozen expectant faces.

"Well?" Rodolphus pressed making her blush beneath his gaze. Severus hung at the back of the group with his head bowed.

"Done!" she grinned letting out a squeak of delight as her betrothed gathered her up in a celebratory hug "It was amazing, I've never felt more powerful!" she gushed with sparkling eyes. It felt amazing to be a part of something, to be included in something Rodolphus was up to finally. As soon as the curse had left her mouth, as soon as she had watched Evans fall to the floor, she'd known she had found her place in the world. Her place beside her betrothed and The Dark Lord.

"H-how long for?" Severus coughed attempting to hide the regret and worry in his tone.

"Worried about your little muggleborn Sev?" Bellatrix sneered glancing at the hook nosed boy from beneath Rodolphus' arm "A good five minutes," she confirmed ignoring Snape's wince "She couldn't even scream! Just lay there writhing in pain! Well, until…"

Rodolphus raised his eyebrows as he let go of her "Until…?"

"Well them bloody Marauders shown up didn't they," Bellatrix grumbled, folding her arms tightly over her chest as she tutted in annoyance.

Rodolphus took a step back from her "Wait; they caught you? It doesn't work if you get caught Bella!"

"They didn't see me!" she argued, wishing to be back wrapped up in Rodolphus' welcoming arms "They just shot hexes at me while trying to help the mudblood!" she insisted wanting them to be proud of her, the first of the group to actually carry out their orders.

"A blood traitor next!" Severus called from the opposite end of the room (where he was hiding from hearing any more about Lily's attack) "I vote one of the main Marauders; Potter, Black or Lestrange."

Glad the attention was off her and her mistake (also noting the looks on both Lestrange brothers' faces upon hearing their last name included in the list) Bellatrix nodded in agreement "Who's up to the challenge this time?"