New Year, Old Friends, and New Surprises

James and Sirius were just mounting their brooms when Mrs. Potter came jogging out of the three story mansion which was home to the Potter family, and a safe-haven for Sirius.

"You weren't thinking of leaving before saying goodbye, were you?" asked Mrs. Potter accusingly. She had wild jet black hair that she usually wore pinned up, a kind, warm face, and brown eyes. She wore an everyday robe of red and yellow flower patterned cotton, and a green bonnet. She had a very motherly disposition, which Sirius slightly envied whenever he thought of his accursed mother.

"Of course not!" said Sirius smoothly.

"Besides," continued James, "we won't be gone forever; we're planning to stay at Hogwarts over breaks, but we'll see you next summer, when we're finally qualified wizards." James gloated about leaving Hogwarts every chance he got. It got on Sirius' nerves.

"Hopefully you two would have remembered these" she thrust wallet sized parcels into their hands, "before you became men!"

The boys took the packages sheepishly, it was their luggage, cauldron, books, and all wrapped effortlessly into magical expanding packages, that were uncharacteristically heavy for their size.

"Thanks, bye mum," said James as he hugged her and his dad. Sirius waited next in line.

Thanks for everything, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," said Sirius, and he sounded remarkably humble. He was so grateful to both of them, for without them it would have never been possible to escape his death-eater-worthy house, which he had never really considered his home. This was his home. He walked into Mrs. Potters waiting arms, then proceeded to shake hands with Mr. Potter, before both boys mounted their broomsticks and headed to their pal Remus Lupin's house.

"I can't believe I'm head girl!" squealed Lily. Mary and Lucy joined into the jumping and yelling and general hysteria with enthusiasm. Lucy suddenly got a dreamy look on her face, "I bet Remus is head boy!" Lily looked astounded by her friends boy-crazy mind, but Lucy bounced back quickly. Lucy Prewett was Lily's other best friend. She had shoulder length strawberry-blonde hair and sparkling crystal blue eyes. Because of a death in her family, she hadn't been present for the Hogwarts Express trip back home last year, but she was excited to be united with her best friends once more.

Together Lily Evans, Mary MacDonald and Lucy Prewett made up the group The Lioness Pride. Every girl in the school was jealous, for their unceasing attention from the Marauders. Unfortunately, the Lioness Pride couldn't stand Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and James Potter.

"I suppose so," agreed Lily, "If it's Potter I'll die for sure!"

Before Lucy or Mary could reply, Mary's sister Missy's voice drifted loudly up the stairs to where the girls were standing, "Ma says it's time to go, so, get your butts in gear!"

Mrs. MacDonald had generously offered to take Lily and Lucy to the train station in addition to her own Mary and Missy. Without her, Lily and Lucy weren't sure how they could have gotten to King's Cross without her, as both their mothers were planning weddings at the moment. Mrs. Evans was planning for Lily's older sister, bony and horse faced Petunia and her fiancée Vernon Dursley. Lily was glad to be missing it. Mrs. Prewett was busy planning for Lucy's sister, Molly's wedding to Arthur Weasley. It was with thankful heart that the girl's mothers had flooed them to Mrs. MacDonald's house last night. Both of the MacDonald's were muggleborns, yet Missy had ended up in Slytherin, probably because she was so cunning, but had never even had a trace of evil in her.

All four of the gossiping girls fit, though rather uncomfortably, into Mrs. MacDonald's four-seater. Though the car was rather crowded, the car ride passed in a flash, and the girls found themselves in front of the train station quicker than anticipated.

Meanwhile, James and Sirius had left their friend Remus' house. He had refused, point-blank, to fly to the train station with them, and had apparated to the place without a backwards glance. James was surprised that he himself hadn't thought of that, but he and Sirius decided to make a statement by flying to King's Cross anyway.

"So, Prongs," Sirius began casually, "do you think your little Lily-flower might go out with you this year?"

"I hope so," said James, as he dug in his pocket an extracted a tiny badge, which he threw at Sirius, who in turn instinctively caught it. "Maybe that will help prove to her that I am responsible."

Sirius looked at the Head Boy badge unbelievably, "Prongs, tell me you stole that from Moony, that's it, you stole it from him, right?" he said hurriedly, panicking.

"Oh, thanks for believing in me, Padfoot, it's bad enough that my own mum and dad didn't believe me until I showed them that the letter was addressed to me!" James looked horribly bitter. Sirius tried to reassure him.

"Sorry, Prongs! I just thought prefects got the heads! Nothing against you, mate!" Sirius could tell that James was not convinced, so he changed tactics, "Can you imagine the look on Lily's face when she sees your badge, ha!" he finished his sentence with his signature, very bark like laugh. James grinned as well.

"Oh my Merlin!" the four members of the Lioness Pride gasped in unison, "look at the marauders! They're... dashing!" After the girls realized what they had just said, they covered their mouths in horror. Mary was the first to recover, "Oh in the name of Merlin's fat hairy bulging... legs" she amended quickly, "We have fallen for the Marauders! We've turned to the dark side! But we will resist as long as possible, right?" she pleaded, and the other two nodded solemnly, still too shocked for words.

"Hey, Moony!" James and Sirius slapped Remus on the back as they greeted him.

"Hey, Prongs, Padfoot," Remus replied carefully. He had the feeling one or both of them had a trick up their sleeve.

"Did you get head boy, Moony?" asked Sirius with mock interest.

"No, do you know who did?" Remus asked hesitantly. 'If Dumbledore picked Sirius I'll say he's finally lost all his marbles.'

"I do, Moony!" James exclaimed, Remus gestured to continue, and James burst out, "I'm head boy!"

At that point Remus' eyebrows were in danger of disappearing into his sandy hair, but he decided to tread cautiously. "Well, that's, er, better than Padfoot!"

Sirius began to frown, "What's that supposed to-" James cut him off.

"Look, I'll bet Lily's head girl. That leaves MacDonald for Padfoot, and Prewett for you, Moony. And might I say that our rivals, the Lioness Pride, look drop dead gorgeous today, no wonder every girl is jealous to the point of weeping, and every dude's mouth is hanging open when they pass! I'd wolf whistle if I could, why don't you try, Moony, you're the wolf!" James had put ALOT of thought into that speech, making sure it was true AND had some humor in it.

"Hold on a sec," Sirius cried, "I want to date Prewett!"

"I'd rather date Mary," Remus said at the same time, "If I dated, which I don't."

"Well, It looks like this is going to be and interesting year for us, since we've all fallen for gorgeous, single girls, perfect!" James paused, "Only problem: They hate our guts!" The boys stood pondering this ominous statement, until they realized that the 'drop dead gorgeous' Lioness Pride was coming right over to them! Uh-oh!

A/N - Thanks to anyone who put us or MT on favorites or alert! This is for you! Sorry about the cliffhanger, this chapter was originally twice this length but we had to cut in half at the most suspenseful part, of course!! So please R & R! Three reviews equal another chapter! Please visit our poll and other stories!! Thnaks! AnimalAddictions L.U. & T.R.K.