Author's note: Welcome to my first ever story on here. This is my take on the marauder era. I've got some chapters pre-written but I'll tell you now that this will be a long one. If anyone happens to read this, please leave some constructive criticism and where you think this story is going or any cool suggestions on what you think the first war was like. Thanks :)
Lily stormed away from the lake, her face and eyes burning with anger under the blazing June sun. Stupid James Potter she thought darkly, he was always picking on Severus Snape- her best friend. That thought brought her up short and she stopped just before the entrance to the castle. He was meant to be her best friend and he had just shouted at her for standing up for him and called her a mudblood in front of everyone. She replayed the memory in her head. Potter taunting him before hanging him upside down, Severus' pale faced anger as he aimed a curse at Potter and shouted at her. Best friends didn't call other best friends degrading names. Sev, her best friend of 7 years had been acting strange all year. He hung around with a crowd of Slytherins that Lily didn't like, and he seemed to be closer to them this year than ever before. They never failed to sneer and insult Lily and other muggle-borns whenever the opportunity presented itself. Lily had caught them a few times bullying and hexing younger students and hadn't hesitated to assert the authority her prefect badge gave her and write them up. He had stopped spending time with Lily as much and she felt him slipping away to the perverse attraction of the dark arts. He had always been interested in them and the opportunities 'non-conventional' magic presented to him. Potter and his stupid friends didn't help with their constant taunts, their encounters often left Sev experimenting on new curses and concoctions that he could use on them no matter how much Lily tried to calm him down. The thought of Potter reignited her anger and she shoved through the front doors flinging them backwards and almost knocking an oblivious Professor Slughorn onto his rather large backside.
"Lily!" He exclaimed jumping backwards. "My, my you could have killed me!"
"Sorry Professor!" Lily replied pasting a sweet and completely fake smile on her face as she regarded him. Suddenly an idea occurred to her. "Actually I was just looking for you professor. There's a duel at the lake! It's getting violent. It's Potter picking on people again, you have to split it up Sir, someone could get seriously hurt!" Lily allowed just the right amount of panic to enter her voice as she spoke to one of her favourite teachers and watched as his face became serious. Slughorn straightened up.
"Right you are Lily m'dear! I shall put a stop to it this instant!"
"Oh thank you professor!" Lily gushed as Slughorn ambled out of the doors. Lily turned and watched him as he made his way to the lake, she saw in the distance her best friends and roommates Dorcas Meadowes, Alice Prewett and Marlene McKinnon making their way hurriedly to the castle. Lily didn't want to speak to them. The short burst of satisfaction at setting a teacher on Potter had left and along with it her short lived anger, leaving only a stinging hurt at Sev's betrayal. Her eyes prickled with tears and she ran up the stairs trying to get as far away as possible from her friends who would want to talk about it.
In the Gryffindor common room, Marlene and Dorcas sank onto a couch with loud sighs whilst Alice sat heavily in an armchair opposite them. They had been fruitlessly searching for Lily for the last 45 minutes and had finally given up.
"She obviously doesn't want to be found." Dorcas said, crossing her arms.
"I can't believe Snape said that." Marlene added darkly, Marlene was a muggleborn as well and was not impressed with his insults. "I mean does he even know how many times Lily's defended him to people when he's not around!"
"Tell me about it Mar." Dorcas said rubbing her eyes wearily. "How long shall we give Lil before we look again? Al? What do you think?" She said to Alice. Alice had her arms tightly crossed and her usual kind, round face was flushed with anger. "Alice?" Dorcas said carefully, she recognised that look. It was a rare look on Alice but usually meant she was absolutely fuming. Dorcas shared a look with Marlene and they both mentally braced themselves for the explosion that was sure to come. It was a few moments before she suddenly began to speak causing Dorcas and Marlene to jump.
"I can't believe him! He's so stupid! Always thinking he's so much better than anyone else. He's been such an ass this year! Why do I have to be related to him!" Dorcas and Marlene sighed in unison, James Potter was Alice's second cousin or something but they'd grown up together and were quite close. This year they had been witness to many of Alice's rants about him, it was even worse when Lily joined in and this had happened countless time this year as James had been acting extra prickish. Alice had paused for breath and was about to embark on another list of grievances when the portrait hole slammed open and four laughing boys entered.
James Potter was in the lead, his thin, angular face thrown back in laughter as Sirius Black said something. He had blood on the side of his face from the cut Snape had given him in the fight but which Slughorn had obviously healed. He had shot up this year and was now nearing 6 foot. His rectangular glasses flashed in the light as he spoke, he'd gotten them a few summers ago after years of squinting at the blackboard. His raven hair was sticking up every which way as usual, he was thin but due to his recent growth spurt and a ruthless quidditch regime under the 7th year captain Henry Wood, he had become less scrawny and more lean and muscular. He was a good looking boy but was even more insufferable for it because he-along with many of the girls in their year-knew it and he had become even more arrogant this year than usual. The marauders stood near the portrait hole and glanced around the common room looking for seats. They made an odd group that you wouldn't expect. There was Potter who, along with Black was the ring leader. He was a pure blood from an old wizarding family. The Potters had been Gryffindors for centuries. They were known for their bravery and outspoken views on political issues facing the wizarding world. Fleamont and Euphemia Potter were relatively new money but they had been prominent figures for years and strongly opposed the anti-muggle sentiment that had been on the rise recently. Sirius Black, Potter's best friend came from a family the very opposite of the Potters. Sirius himself was slightly smaller than James and was broader and more muscular. He had long black hair that fell to just above his shirt collar in slight, elegant waves and hung gracefully into his eyes. His features were very aristocratic with steel grey eyes and a strong jaw. He never wore his uniform properly, always leaving his shirt untucked at the back. His top button was undone and his tie hung loosely around his tanned neck, his school robes were open and hung lazily off his shoulders in a way that made many of the girls go crazy. His family were old money and some of the main representatives of the pure blood mania. They firmly believed that muggles and muggle borns were inferior. Sirius himself did not agree with them, and made no effort to hide his disdain for his family. He walked with an easy grace and was just as arrogant as Potter. Also with Potter and Black was Remus Lupin. Remus was the tallest of the boys but also the thinnest, sometimes bordering on gaunt, he was pale and often fell ill. He had an easy smile which contrasted with the faint scars that crossed his nose and peeked out from his collar. He apparently had had a terrible accident when he was younger which left him scarred but there was actually an underground betting pool on what they were actually from which the girls were fairly sure had been set up by Sirius, James and Peter. And Remus had kind, dark green eyes that were often hidden under shaggy light brown bangs, he wasn't as conventionally good looking as Sirius but had a mysterious handsomeness to him. He was humble and sensible and was a prefect. The final member of their group was probably the most unexpected. Peter Pettigrew was 3 or 4 inches smaller than Black, and was a plump boy with watery pale blue eyes, he wasn't as clever as his friends but had a sharp tongue and a wicked sense of humour, his mousy hair wasn't particularly stylish but he had a certain boyish cuteness to him that complimented his friends surprisingly well. The marauders scanned the common room and Alice began stalking towards them.
They were still laughing and hadn't noticed the furious girl honing in on them. James turned to Sirius grinning,
"OK, so Slughorn may have given us detention every weekend until the end of term, but it was so worth it for the look on Snivelly's face when we pushed him into the lake and covered him in shampoo." Black laughed.
"Haha! I know! Hopefully it'll remind him to wash his hair, the greasy slimeball." Peter was laughing as well and even Remus had a reluctant smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Black then turned to Remus, "You're lucky Slughorn took your word that you were studying and didn't notice Lupin. Otherwise your royal prefectness might have been at risk." Remus grinned and was about to reply when he caught sight of Alice and his eyes widened at the anger radiating off her.
"James!" She snapped. The boy in question whirled around.
"Alright cuz?" He asked lazily, infuriating her further.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Alice shouted jabbing him in the chest. "You just attacked someone completely unprovoked!"
"Well it wasn't exactly unprovoked Prewett." Sirius chimed in cheerfully.
"Oh don't give me that 'because he exists' crap" Alice said turning on him angrily, causing him to take a hasty step back.
"He's a greasy Slytherin Alice, why are you defending him?" James asked frowning. "He practices dark magic! Did you not see that curse he used on me? He made it up! That's how messed up he is."
"He was defending himself from you!" Alice yelled.
"Have you not seen his sadistic little friends Alice?" James hissed taking a step towards her, anger clouding his hazel eyes. "They want to be just like that psycho in the prophet who's been attacking muggles for no reason. Snivellus deserved everything he got."
"You attack people for no reason too James." Alice replied, her voice had gone dangerously low and her eyes were blazing with anger. The marauders watched their exchange warily ready to intervene should their fight get physical. Marlene and Dorcas had risen slowly from the couch and were moving towards Alice, pushing past other students who had started to watch. Alice stared James down before continuing. "Or have you forgotten that 3rd year you sent to the hospital wing?" A few weeks prior James had fired a tripping hex at a third year Hufflepuff sending him careening down the stairs, breaking his arm and dislocating a shoulder. James' defence was that the 13 year old was being annoying and he'd gotten tired of asking him to be quiet nicely, James had also said it was the Hufflepuff's fault for falling in the direction of the staircase when there was a perfectly good empty corridor on the other side. James didn't have an answer for Alice and stared angrily at her whilst he thought of something. Alice took the opportunity to finish the argument.
"You and your friends are just as bad James." She hissed gesturing to the marauders. "And don't even get me started on how you treat Lily! Constantly asking her out in front of everyone, always embarrassing her! Whispering sleazy comments to her. You're a perfect prick to her and you seem to enjoy it! You hex people just for the fun of it, you bully people too. You think you and your little gang are better than everyone else. So let me ask you this." She took another step closer to James, her small frame of 5"2 seemed to tower over him as her blue eyes blazed. "What the hell makes you lot different to Snape's 'sadistic little friends'? You think because you're not a Slytherin you're justified in attacking others? Because last I checked, Gryffindors are meant to stand up for the right things and do it in the right way." Alice had stunned the marauders and the whispering students watching into silence, Marlene even spotted Frank Longbottom staring with open mouthed awe at Alice. James' eyes were wide, Peter's mouth was gaping and Remus had hung his head, his sandy bangs falling over his eyes. Sirius had narrowed his eyes and was looking at Alice angrily. Alice was only looking at her cousin though. He had never considered their 'pranks' like that before and was indignant at her comparison, he could see her point though. The common room was silent.
"You're despicable." Alice spat before sweeping out of the common room. Dorcas and Marlene were close behind allowing the portrait to fall shut on the shocked Gryffindors.
Lily hugged her transfiguration text book close to her chest. She was sat on a small covered alcove off the second floor. It was a secluded spot and Lily was pretty sure no one else in the castle knew about it apart from her. She had found it in first year after a student had accidentally given her the wrong directions for a short cut. She had gone behind a tapestry thinking she'd find a short cut to the 4th floor when instead she had found a small room which she thought was a forgotten study.
The room was small but had large windows making it light and airy, she had climbed out of the window onto an open balcony overlooking the courtyard, to the left of the balcony was a raised alcove which she suspected used to hold some kind of statue, it overlooked the courtyard as well and if one walked to the edge of the open balcony and walked a few steps along the low wall separating the balcony from the drop into the courtyard one could quite easily climb into the alcove and it was here where Lily was sat. She wasn't sure how long she had been there for but she had cried for most of it. Her back was leant against the back of the alcove and her knees were drawn up. She had been trying to keep her close friendship with Sev as normal as possible. Sitting next to him in potions and doing her homework with him in the library. But the past year she had caught him several times with his housemates bullying younger muggleborns, he wasn't exactly joining in but he wasn't stopping it either. He had begun to stop talking to her in the corridors if there happened to be some Slytherins in the vicinity and she had noticed an increase in violence in the regular tussles between Sev and Potter. She didn't know what to do anymore, her best friend was slipping away and she couldn't stop it. She had great friends in Gryffindor and the girls in her dormitory were her best friends too, she had friends from other houses and was good friends with Remus Lupin due to their prefect duties but it wasn't the same. Sev had been her friend before she was 'officially' a recognised witch. He had introduced her to magic and been there for her as her sister pushed her away. Sev symbolised a time before magic, before growing up, before her own sister turned on her, before James Potter asked her out daily and before open discrimination against muggleborns by pure bloods was common. Sev had stuck with her in first year as she found her feet in this new world and now he was drifting away and towards the people that targeted Lily. She had tried to talk to him about his other friends but he had changed the subject every time. It seemed he'd chosen his path and Lily couldn't stop it. He had broken the promise he'd made to her 5 years ago. Fresh tears started to leak from Lily's eyes as she recalled it.
It was about three weeks into Lily's first term at Hogwarts and she loved it. The girls in her house were nice and most of the boys were, well apart from Sirius Black and James Potter. They had been nasty to Severus on the train and Lily hadn't forgotten. Lily was loving all her classes she found them fascinating and, much to her surprise was doing well in them despite the fact that many of the other students came from wizarding families and she knew next to nothing about the subjects. She was rushing to her next class- potions. She was late because she'd taken a wrong turn but she liked the professor and thought that he had a soft spot for her. She was so intent on running to her class that she didn't notice the tall 6th year coming around the corner and she slammed into the intimidating girl. Lily's bag went tumbling to the ground and the girl was sent stumbling into the wall. She had long glossy black hair and hooded eyes. Lily gasped and started stammering out apologies as she gathered up her books, the girl's green striped tie showed that she was in Slytherin. The girl turned angry eyes on her and sneered. Lily was struck with the sudden thought that this girl looked similar to Sirius Black. Maybe they were related? Lily's heart started hammering as she advanced on her and slowly drew her wand. She tried to gather her things quicker and had hastily stuffed them into her bag when the tall girl suddenly pressed the cold tip of her wand against Lily's neck, Lily froze and looked into those dark eyes.
"Next time," the girl hissed "you need to watch where you're going." She pressed her wand harder into Lily's neck. "Stay out of my way." Lily nodded and apologised once more, the girl sneered, her wand still pushing against the rapid pulse in Lily's neck. Her lip curled in disgust.
"Shut up." She spat. Lily did as she asked, unable to look away from her. "Don't look at me you filthy mud blood!" The girl shouted, pushing Lily hard onto the cold floor. Lily gasped as her knees grazed the floor, the shallow cuts stinging and tears began to fill her eyes. The bully had already disappeared and Lily hurried into her classroom trying her hardest not to cry. She had apologised to the professor who had smiled kindly at her and her unshed tears and told her not to worry. Lily suspected he thought she was upset that she was late but wasn't about to correct him. She shakily slid into her seat next to Severus and he looked at her worriedly. He waited until professor Slughorn had finished talking before asking her what was wrong. Lily told him what had just happened in a frightened hushed whisper.
"She was in your house, do you know her?" Sev grimaced.
"It sounds like Bellatrix Black." he informed her before saying ironically "she's Potter's friends cousin. You should hear some of the things she says about him, sounds like there's some family drama in the black household." Severus laughed at this whilst Lily frowned.
"Is everyone in your house like that?" Lily asked quietly. Professor Slughorn smiled at her as he walked past, if a professor like him was head of Slytherin it can't be all that bad, can it? Severus had gone silent when Lily asked this and Lily turned to look at him, he was wearing a grim expression. "Sev?"
"A lot of them are Lily..." he whispered. Lily almost upset a vial of newts eggs in shock. She had been expecting him to say that Bellatrix was an exception.
"You told me it didn't matter if I was muggleborn Severus!" She whispered, she chewed her lip worriedly.
"It doesn't Lily!" Severus cried causing a few students to turn curiously, he lowered his voice after a sharp look from Slughorn and glared at Potter who had turned around and was watching their conversation interestedly until he fixed his eyes on his own cauldron. "It doesn't matter to me at least." He continued, "Some people might be mean to you because of your blood status, but people who care about you should just treat you the same." He said fiercely, his black eyes blazing, he gripped her arm as he said this and Lily gave him a watery smile.
"Promise you won't call me a m-." Lily paused not wanting to say the hateful word but Severus interrupted her. Looking earnestly into her eyes.
"I'm not like them Lily, I promise i won't ever, ever call you that! The day I call you one of them would be the day that- that-" he paused for a moment trying to think of a situation ridiculous enough to warrant him calling her the m-word. His pause and the fierce expression on his face made Lily laugh gratefully. He raised a finger for dramatic effect as he finished his sentence. "The day I call you one of them would be the day we're not friends." Lily beamed at him, both 11 year olds confident that such a drastic situation would never occur.
"Well I was going to say it would be the day pigs fly but i guess that works too."
Lily's tears were falling earnestly as she remembered the innocence of their friendship. She laughed an empty bitter laugh through her tears at the perverse irony that not only were her and Sev no longer friends but earlier that week during dinner the marauders as a prank had made all the cooked boars with the apples in their mouths along the Slytherin table fly away whenever a Slytherin tried to take a slice of pork. So both of the situations that her and Sev swore would never happen all those years ago happened. Lily put her transfiguration textbook to the side, she had thought maybe she could distract herself from what had just happened by studying for her transfiguration OWL, her last one which was tomorrow morning. It lay forgotten as she hugged herself, leaning against the alcove wall and simply cried.
It was a while later when Lily finally unfolded herself from the foetal position she had been in for the last few hours, she had run out of tears and now just had a pounding headache. She stood up on numb legs and leaned against the wall until some feeling had returned to her feet. She tiredly gathered up her things and decided to go to the hospital wing to get a headache remedy. The clock had chimed for 6 o clock a while ago, she had missed dinner but she didn't have much of an appetite. She had seen her friends walking through the courtyard several times looking for her and hoped that they would be at dinner. Lily suddenly felt exhausted, she let out a bone weary sigh and rubbed her puffy, tired eyes before making her way to the hospital wing.
