After discovering the marauder's biggest secret, Lily felt that she understood all four of the boys better as well as the friendship that kept them together. In fact, she saw each of them in a different way than she once had.

Remus had always seemed kind but very tense and nervous, now that Lily knew the truth she saw that this was strength as he feared people finding out about his secrets but carried on despite this. Peter was similar, always seeming timid and shy and – whilst there was nothing wrong with this – was unlike the others who were more boisterous and outgoing. Peter now, however, seemed quietly strong and was glued to his friends by this big secret; he was no more of an outsider to the group than Lily was as he helped his friends as much as any of the others did.

Then there was the other end of the scale: Sirius and James. Both were loud and confident but getting to know them better, especially James, had shown Lily that there was a lot more to them that met the eye. James' loud confidence was a cover for his secret fears he kept deep inside, Lily was trying her best to learn them all but so far only knew his biggest one: that his friends (or Lily herself) would leave him. Sirius had lost his family. He used his outward confidence to hide the fact that he was lonely inside. James was like his brother but Lily couldn't imagine not talking to a single member of her family (even Petunia) never mind the whole lot. A late-night revelation from him when no one else was around told her more about him than she ever thought possible: as much as he hated his family and their ways, he loved and missed them too. He secretly wished that one of them would reach out, even his younger brother Regulus who had barely said two words to him at school since he was sorted into Slytherin.

That's what's strange about getting to know people, Lily found, you learn things about them that you never even realised you didn't know about them. She had greatly enjoyed getting to know her new friends and was glad of their friendship and support as they learned things about her too; about her sister and their family dynamic. No one was quite sure how it had happened but Lily had even begun to use their Marauder nicknames instead of their actual names as she came to realise their true meaning and the irony of using names that came from a secret out in the open. How she hadn't figured out that 'Moony' was a werewolf she wasn't sure – just not what you'd expect to find out she supposed. Anyway, Lily had been raised a muggle and hadn't believed in werewolves until one of her friends told her in third year that they really do exist. One of the lads probably overheard that conversation and laughed about it.

Lily had realised how much they all wanted – and needed – her friendship but she soon discovered how much she needed theirs when she received a letter one Monday. She recognised the handwriting immediately as her mother's. This was odd as her parents rarely wrote to her, not because they didn't want to keep in touch but because sending post by owl was just an odd thing for them to do and they struggled to manage it. Lily wasn't even sure how they did on these rare occasions!

Dear Lily,

I am writing to you to inform you that I have set a date for my Wedding in early May. I know you will still be in school at this point and am not expecting you to come but mother told me I should tell you so that you are not shocked to find out when you next come home.

Petunia.

Of course Petunia would not even write the envelope with the word Hogwarts on it, so it was no real surprise that the letter and the envelope had different handwriting. What was surprising was that Petunia didn't seem to even want Lily to come. They grew up together and Lily remembered fondly of them planning their weddings to imaginary people in a little church surrounded by only their close friends and family. The most important thing to either of the girls was that the other would be their Bride's maid – or Maid-of-Honour once they understood this. This went back to before Hogwarts, when they were just two little girls, best friends who happened to be sisters.

Lily felt tears pricking the back of her eyes at all of these thoughts together and so excused herself and ran out of the hall – not wanting to break down in front of everyone. On her way to the Gryffindor common room, however, she came across a group of Pure-blooded Slytherins on their way up from the dungeons. She banged into them and dropped the letter that had caused her so much pain. She muttered her apologies to them but as she knelt to pick it up she heard one of them mutter 'stupid mudblood' which upset her even more.

The common room was empty when she finally reached it and so she took her favourite seat by the window and stared out across the wild mountains that surrounded the castle on all sides. They always reminded her of the mountains in the Peak District where her family had always gone on walks during the summer months. Lily used to imagine that they were the same ones – although they were hundreds of miles away – as she remembered particularly nice treks through the hills.

Today, however, the sight of the hills and mountains made the tears that had been threatening to come, come pouring down as she remembered when she and her sister would have fun walking together and chatting about things. Even the first two years of Lily being at Hogwarts, Petunia had managed to enjoy having her sister back for almost two months.

Lily was so caught up in her hurt and her little world that she didn't hear any footsteps or the door opening, but she felt a hand on her shoulder suddenly and looked around to see James' brown eyes looking straight at her. Without even thinking, she curled into him and put her head on his shoulder and continued her sobs.

"What's wrong?" He asked, rubbing her back as an attempt to comfort her. Lily said nothing but held out the letter for him to read, which only took him a moment. Instead of saying anything else, James held Lily in the tight embrace for a few minutes before deciding he had to break the silence.

"We have a Charms lesson in about five minutes." He spoke softly, as if he was trying not to wake a sleeping child. "I don't mind not going if you don't feel up to it but I know what you're like about school work." Lily laughed a little.

"Well one of us has to, or else neither of us will have a job, then how will we live?" Lily joked. James stared at her and it took Lily a moment to realise why. They had never really talked about what would happen with them after school or the future. James wasn't commitment-phobic or anything, but it seemed so far away, life after Hogwarts, that neither of them had managed to broach the subject at all, until now. "I-I mean…" she stammered but was silenced by a kiss from James.

"Come along then, Miss Bread-winner." He joked as he pulled her up from the seat. "We need to get you to lesson. Get lots of lovely Os so that I never have to lift a finger."

"Hey, you're pulling your weight, ok. I want that house spick and span every day before I get home from work." She warned in a mocking tone. For a moment, all thoughts of her sister and mud-bloods were gone from Lily's mind as she came to love where she was and who she was with right now. Petunia might not want Lily right now, but Lily didn't need her either because she had a group of friends at school who she would never have expected to become her confidants but she knew would do anything for her, just like they would any other member of their clan.

The day flew over and before she knew it, Lily was back in the common room, Leaning against James who kept an arm around her waist as they sat in an armchair that was slightly too small for two people and talked to their friends. They discussed their days – even though most of them had been together for the majority of the day – and even what dinner had been (Lily's favourite: beef casserole). They talked about nothing at all and contemplated the universe. Sirius said it had to be created because beauty like his didn't happen by accident – although the boys agreed that an hour in front of the mirror every morning can hardly be seen as an accident.

"Are you OK, Lily? You seemed pretty upset this morning." Sirius asked, despite James' angry look. Lily sighed, they had told her some pretty serious and deep stuff, the least she could do would be to tell them of her family dynamic.

"My sister's getting married to a complete arsehole and I'm not even invited to the wedding." She was fed up, not upset any more. Saying it now with her friends it seemed utterly ridiculous.

"Why?" Peter asked her.

"Because I'm a witch – despite what you-know-who and his followers think."

"I'm sorry." Sirius said. It was sincere and Lily knew that he felt responsible for it because it was the same as his family's views – as much as he disagreed. Lily shrugged.

"As long as I have you lot who needs Petunia and stupid Vernon Dursley." She put out her arm and patted Sirius on the knee. "Right, come on you lot. It's time for bed." Lily decided after looking at her watch and seeing it tick past eleven o' clock. Sirius, Remus and Peter went off to bed but James stayed for an extra moment and kissed her hard.

"I love you, my muggle-born witch." He whispered into her ear. "You are perfect just the way you are and don't let anyone tell you different, ok?" He grabbed both of her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes until she smiled and nodded then he let her go and they separated to go up to bed.

Quite a short and fluffy chapter, I know, but just wanted to write it (and let's be honest, most of the chapters of this fic seem quite fluffy). Hope you enjoyed it, regardless, and I'll hopefully be back again soon. Please leave me a review in the meantime and let me know what you think of this chapter and anything you might like to see in future chapters. – Chescaannie xx