Thanks, Lunaz, there were 3 people with Lunaz as part of their name so I couldn't reply properly. I am also chary of former generation stories, but I had this idea and felt I had to run with it! I'm glad you like it so far, and will continue to do so for as many school years as I manage to write...

Chapter 4

Sirius raised an eyebrow when James climbed into bed beside him after lights out and activated the 'silent night' charm on the curtains, which allowed students to block out any sounds from outside, and equally blocked any sounds like sobbing coming from their own beds. Plenty of juniors cried on their first time away from home, and the charm was as much for them to maintain their dignity as to permit those who slept lightly to shut out the nightly noises, giggling and chattering of others. As it happened, the Marauders had discussed the charm and decided that it wasn't helpful for anyone crying, or feeling ill to be blocked from their fellows, however useful it might be to have a nice quiet night for sleeping, and they had agreed not to use the charms.

"James, what's up, mate? I thought we were going to leave those things unactivated?" said Sirius.

"I … I'm too ashamed to let Sev or Remus or Peter overhear me," said James.

"What about?" asked Sirius, cautiously activating his wand to shine dimly. There were tear marks on James' face.

"I … Sirius, I've taunted squibs before, and if I had known about Mr. Filch before we got to talk to him, as a person, and if we hadn't automatically opposed Malfoy and wassissface I … I might have suggested pranking him, because of being a squib, and the caretaker and everything. And then Petunia was brave enough, a real Gryffindor! To speak up about not having had magic to give him some hope, and Sev reckons we can do it if his grandfather can't."

"Well he might be able to. I find all this rune malarkey jolly hard going."

"So do I. I … I have the raw talent to shine in most classes without working hard, and I just don't know how Sev sits there for hours, reading, studying, doing the same thing over and over patiently, even when he fails. And I'd never have thought of using blood magic on the squib's kneazle, and what's worse, Sirius, I wouldn't have thought of it even if I knew as much as Sev because …. Sirius, am I as much of a berk as Malfoy?"

Sirius stared at his friend.

"James, mate, you just said all the things I've been thinking. I charged because they were wearing Knights of Walpurgis clothing, they call themselves Death Eaters now, and I know a lot of my family are Death Eaters, and I hate it. And maybe we are berks, and maybe we ought to ask the other Marauders what they think. In …. In case they don't want to associate with us any more. Because pranking squibs almost is next door to being a Death Eater, in a way. "

"Reckon you're right. Oh Sirius, what if they don't want to be friends with us any more? I know we could get heaps of people willing to gang with us for our blood status but … I hadn't felt homesick before but now I'm scared."

"Well, we can't get Tuney and Lily because of the staircases not letting boys up, but we could talk to the other boys, and if they want to throw us out, we can ask them to let the girls have a vote too."

James swallowed, and soon all the Marauders were sitting on Sirius' bed with the curtains drawn so as not to disturb the other sleepers in the dormitory. For all his faults, James never lacked courage, and he managed to struggle through what he feared.

There was a moment's long silence.

"I guess it's something to do with a privileged pure blood upbringing, and not about you at all," said Severus. "Because if that's what your upbringing made you like, you wouldn't know any better. But if you weren't decent types, it wouldn't have worried you, and you'd have sneered at those of us who went against Malfoy for being squib lovers. You overcame a prejudice against muggleborn, and you're defying the prejudice against werewolves. I reckon that says you've had some bad teaching but are proper Marauders for fighting it. Remus? Peter?"

"They don't care about what I am, or about the girls," said Remus. "And maybe we all have prejudices we need to fight. I have to fight my prejudices against purebloods. You know, the ones who'd say I'm not pureblooded any more because I'm tainted."

"And I have to fight mine against muggles, because of my dad," said Severus. "The Evanses are good people."

"I … I taunted a squib once," said Peter, going very red. "I … I'm not as good as the rest of you in most classes, and … and my magic manifested late and it was weak, so … so a squib was the only person to look down on."

"Took balls to tell us that," said Sirius.

"You stick to learning runes, Peter," said Severus, kindly. "You can enhance your magic with runes, and look just as good as anyone else. And if you manifested late, you might just be a late starter all round, and it might take longer to control your magic."

Peter gave him a grateful half smile. Severus did not like Peter as much as he liked the other boys, but he took care never to show it. He knew only too well what it was like to be called useless. His father had done it all the time, and his mother had thrown enough jibes about how a half-blood would never amount to much. It was why he had worked and worked to control his magic, to cast spells without a wand.

"You don't despise us?" asked James, anxiously.

"James, if I hadn't been lucky enough to have my grandfather, I might be making jibes about mudbloods just because they're lower on the social pecking order than half-bloods," said Severus, "And then hating myself for hurting Lily. And Tuney of course, but if … if I hadn't decided I was better than that, she and I might still be hating each other because she couldn't do magic and resented those of us who could. And how much harder it must be for a squib to grow up with a whole family who can do things he can't! We all need to guard against prejudice, though I'm not sure we need to worry about being prejudiced against Death Eaters."

The others sniggered.

"And Slytherin," said Sirius.

"Bite your tongue!" said Severus. "If we hadn't been talking on the train, and got attacked by Malfoy, I would have been a Slytherin out of family loyalty and thought Gryffindors were the beef-brained oafs my mother described them as."

"And you might even have joined their gangs, with the likes of Avery and Mulciber to stop them beating on you, Sev," said Peter.

Severus opened his mouth to say he would never have joined with Avery or Mulciber and shut it again. He was too used to being beaten on by his father to ever deny that he might have picked an easy way to avoid it.

"Yeah, and we need to find out if any of the kids they've got in their gang have done so," he said. "It's a good point, Peter!"

Peter beamed. Being praised by the Marauders' resident genius, in Peter's eyes at least, was wonderful.

OoOoOo

By common consent, the boys said nothing to the Evans girls on the morrow; some things were boy things, and girls didn't always understand how it felt to need to be alpha males. Now they had talked it over, all of them were more comfortable with each other, and with their own feelings. And James and Sirius were especially glad that their attitudes were not going to be aired in front of the girls.

"Sev, are we going to have to cut ourselves every time we need to use runes?" said Lily. "I read in my DADA book that blood magic can be dark magic."

"And you, who always read things carefully, should be aware of two very important words," said Severus. "The words 'can' and 'be'."

"It hadn't escaped me, but I know how enthusiastic you are, Sev, I wouldn't want you accidentally using dark magic," said Lily.

"I shan't," said Severus. "And how can it be dark to make a willing sacrifice to save a life? Though Merlin's beard, I think I overdid it, that cat is frisking like a kitten."

Lily laughed.

"Reckon you gave her more of a lease of life than you intended, my friend. But if you have lost magic yourself …"

Severus frowned, and fired off a simultaneous stinging hex, slug vomiting curse and tickling charm at the statue of Gregory the Smarmy, which jumped, coughed and wriggled uncontrollably. The slugs it spat up became stone and fell to earth with a loud clatter on the flagstones.

"Looks like my magic is intact," said Severus. Lily giggled.

"Sev, are hexes all you know?"

He shrugged.

"Pretty much. Mum used the slug vomiting curse on Dad to sober him up because it made him pump up all he had drunk too. A pretty pair they are!"

"I know a few from my parents too," said Sirius, "But we're all better than them. I wonder who Gregory the Smarmy was?"

James laughed.

"Well we won't find out from old Binns," he said. "Preoccupied with the goblin wars, he is!"

"I'd like to find out if the goblins had a good case, actually," said Petunia. "After all, there are people here who talk about goblins in the same way they use the word 'mudblood' and that makes me feel a fellow feeling. I mean, from our point of view, there's no big difference between goblins and wizards."

James opened his mouth, then a thoughtful look came over his face, and he shut it again.

"Tuney, mate, that's pretty deep," he said.

"James, anything short of a discussion on what's for dinner is deep for you," said Petunia, looking pleased.

"Well, maybe, but it is deep. Us pure bloods, we accept that goblins exist, and that they have a part in society, but they aren't allowed wands, and they are expected to keep to their own areas. Why? And why shouldn't they have wands?"

"Now look what you've done, Tuney," grinned Sirius.

"And why shouldn't we ask questions?" said Petunia. "I know there are traditions, and I don't want to show disrespect to them, but I want to know why some things are done, and 'because they always have' isn't a good enough reason."

"Actually, if we're going to try to make large scale reforms in society, we really need to teach Lily and Petunia the proper etiquettes and how to handle the cream of society in formal ways," said Severus. "My grandfather has been showing me, because mother was never interested, and I think if as a group we can show respect for tradition, we're more likely to be able to get some changes."

"Crumbs, Sev, mate, it goes against the grain, I thought I'd shed all that," said Sirius.

"It might go against the grain, but it would get us more support from the traditionalists," said James. "Those who despise muggleborn for not knowing our traditions, and those who might be drawn into the ranks of the Death Eaters if they thought it stood for order in society."

"Oh no, what has my big mouth let us in for?" groaned Petunia.

"Don't worry, Tuney, it's no worse than what you find in Shakespeare," said Severus.

oOoOo

"You dinna hae tae learrrn a' the formal addresses, ye ken," said Madam MacGonagall, to the Evans girls, when she found them practicing how to curtsey according to the rank of the person they were greeting.

"I think we do, Madam MacGonagall," said Lily. "How can we grow up to have any influence in society if those who have power can write us off as ignorant mudbloods with no appreciation of tradition?"

"Ye shouldnae ca' yersel' that name!" said MacGonagall sharply.

Lily shrugged.

"Others will do so; it's only a word, but if they can truthfully attach the word 'ignorant' to it, then it achieves its own meaning, doesn't it? If we can out-tradition the traditionists, it's not as meaningful an epithet if we can manage a greater level of etiquette than some of their own."

"Weel …." the Scottish witch hesitated.

"Besides, Madam MacGonagall, it's great fun to drop a beautiful curtsey to someone like Narcissa Black, and say 'Well met, daughter of House Black,' and have her forced, wild-eyed, into having to respond in kind, even if it is 'well met, lowly first year of Gryffindor's house'," giggled Petunia.

"Aye, weel, if ye ken that etiquette can be a weapon too…" Minerva MacGonagall shook her head and moved on. She would have sworn that Sirius Black and James Potter had firmly abandoned traditionalism, but maybe they had more sense than she had thought. No. It was the Prince boy, who could see further through a wall than most. And maybe at that it would do no harm; those who would despise the muggleborn girls would despise them anyway, but nobody could say they were not doing their best.

OoOoOo

"So, you are mudbloods, I understand?" said Narcissa to Lily and Petunia.

"It's a filthy epithet for someone of your breeding to use," said Lily, sharply. "I was taught that a real lady never uses coarse language."

Narcissa blinked.

"You … have some truth in your words, though it is an insolent way to address your elders and betters," said Narcissa.

"It would be more insolent, surely, to permit you to make yourself look low?" said Lily. "The scion of House Malfoy may demean himself, and demean you by the way he speaks in front of you, but you need not heed that."

"I am surprised that you have knowledge of our ways," said Narcissa.

"We are privileged by an accident of birth to have a combined heritance to give us magic," said Lily. "As we have joined your world, it would be impolite not to learn its ways. Manners maketh the man; and when there are house rivalries, then formalised ways to address each other help to keep misunderstandings to a minimum."

Narcissa was struck.

"But Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs have abandoned the traditions. I thought it was because they were more willing to take in mu … muggleborn and half bloods."

"Perhaps in a way that's true, if there was nobody willing and ready to teach those of us not born of the wizarding world. Why haven't we been offered lessons by prefects, by people like you? We are relying on our half-blood friend whose grandfather has taught him. It's not fair, and it makes for misunderstandings between pure bloods and muggleborn, because it can lead to us being rude unintentionally, and believe me, Miss Black, when I am rude, I want it to be because I am rude intentionally, which I fully intend to be to Lucius Malfoy every time I see him."

"That is not something I can condone, he is from an old and respected house …"

"A boy who will kick a cat and almost kill it is not to be respected and is a stain upon his house's escutcheon," said Lily, pleased to remember the word.

Narcissa was fond of animals, and she paled.

"You know for a fact that he has done this?"

"Did I see him do it? No, but he was happy to boast, and I saw the cat with her ribs stove in," said Lily. "Sev saved the cat with runes."

"First years don't learn runes."

"Huh, he does," said Petunia. "Digs around in dusty old books in the library. His grandfather is a runemaster."

"Oh." Narcissa bit her lip; it was possible and not a lie, and besides, how would such babies know about runes unless they had encountered them? Especially the muggleborn. She went on, "Thank you for that information. It is of personal interest to me."

And now she would have to write a letter to her father, asking him to decline the offer of a betrothal between her and Lucius Malfoy, because Narcissa knew full well that people who hurt animals also hurt people. People like her sister Bellatrix. She nodded to the two juniors that they might go on their way.

They went.

"How could you act so respectful to her, Lily?" demanded Petunia.

"Well, she is a big girl," said Lily. "And that Malfoy boy treats her like he owns her, and Sev did say something about how there might be Slytherin who want to escape. And she did smile nicely at us, and people who can smile with their eyes aren't all bad."

"I suppose," said Petunia. "I don't like all this formality."

"I can't say I dig it much myself, but we're stuck with it if we want to get anywhere, and I'd say we got further than we would have done if we'd spoken mugglewise to her," said Lily. "And we need allies, right? Even Slytherin."