Thanks to Kazo Sakamari for the first review (and for reassuring me I did not make a complete fool of myself posting the prologue xD)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Harry Potter or anything associated with Harry Potter.

Warning: Same as the prologue, also minor OC's, as there isn't enough information on who else attended Hogwarts in James and Sirius time there.

Also, I found the Pure-Blood Directory but am surprised to find the Potter's are not on the list. While it's bad form, I'll partly ignore the list, because I've always considered the Potter family pure bloods of the highest caliber.

~~BREAKLINE~~

Chapter One: The Past, Part 1

1977, September 1st, Kings Cross Station, Hogwarts Express

When he had first arrived at platform 9 & 3/4, the first thing he did was seek Sirius out. He found him eventually, in a train compartment close to the back of the train instead of the Marauders' usual compartment in the middle of the train. He had nearly walked past the door, charmed to keep people away, James noted, the only reason he had noticed was because he was liberally using 'point me' to find the occupant inside. Sirius Black sat with his knees drawn to his chin, arms wrapped around his legs, as if trying to make himself as small as possible. Hearing the door open, he looked up, noticing James standing at the door with surprise, before that melted into sadness.

The look on Sirius' face stopped whatever tirade he was about to unload onto the teen. Sirius Black looked like a man who had just been condemned to Azkaban, there was no positive emotion discernible, instead there was only misery, despair and resignation.

"Sirius, you twat, why didn't you reply to my letters?" but instead of sounding annoyed, James' voice came out as a soft whisper, as if he was afraid of the answer that Sirius would give. Sirius didn't reply, staring at James, as if he didn't think James was really at the door. "Sirius?" James asked again, as he came into the compartment and sat next to the teen.

For a long time, neither of them spoke, instead falling into a comfortable silence, as countryside rolled past outside the window, the train quickly along the tracks, yet feeling like a lifetime to the two sat in the compartment. Finally, when Sirius decided that there was enough distance between him and London, he spoke.

"My Mother, she told me something this summer, when the Malfoy's came round. I already knew of course, that Cousin Bella was a Death Eater, she's really vocal about it, but I didn't know Malfoy was one too,"

James gave Sirius a questioning look. The Malfoy's were an old name in the wizarding world, and while they were big on blood purity, they also held a pride that dictated they should not, would not, bow to anyone, even one such as You-Know-Who. The fact that Malfoy was a Death Eater surprised him, but then, he suppose, while Lucius was known for his quick cunning and intelligence, he did not have the Malfoy pride that Abraxas Malfoy was legendary for. In many ways, Lucius Malfoy was coward (though Slytherins would called it self-preservation) who didn't have the sheer balls Abraxas Malfoy had.

"He's was engaged to Narcissa this summer, he's practically family now," Sirius spat, the venom in his words reassuring James that Sirius hadn't been broken by whatever his Mother had done this summer. "Mother…she, Mother was proud to have a Death Eater be part of the family, she claimed he was so brave to stand up for blood purity, that what You-Know-Who was doing was the one of the most noble causes to happen since Salazar Slytherin's attempt to close Hogwarts to muggl-," Sirius suddenly cut off, freezing in place, the word muggleborn on the tip of his tongue.

"Mudblood, I meant mudblood, got to remember that, can't say muggleborn, they'll know, mudblood, mudblood, mudblood," he chanted, as if the mantra would help engrain the word into his mind, his demeanor suddenly more desperate. James jerked violently at the word, giving Sirius a look that was somewhere between disbelief and disgust.

"Don't you dare use that word around me, you hear me? I don't care how good friends we are, I won't listen to you calling anyone some filthy name just because their parents are muggles." He hissed at the now trembling teen, who withdrew into himself the more James yelled.

"Tell me what's going on, you're acting like a scared rabbit, what's wrong?" he finally sighed, realizing that he wasn't likely to get answers if he continued to yell at Sirius. "Mother said she wanted Regulus to be like Malfoy, be one of You-Know-Who's Death Eaters. I…I begged her to reconsider, and she…she said if I took Regulus' place, she wouldn't ask Regulus to. I couldn't let her James, you have to understand, she was going to make Reggie be some madman's slave, for something as stupid as blood purity, I couldn't let her, so I agreed, when I graduate, I'll be a Death Eater instead of Reggie. I can't let him have Reggie, I just can't!" Sirius cried, as he clutched James sleeve, hands shaking from the sudden onslaught of emotion. "But I'm scared James, I don't want to be a Death Eater, we all know what they do, the things they do to people, even their own, I'm scared, I don't want to be alone,"

James stared at the trembling teen, so different from the confident and arrogant boy he knew. In his place was a scared boy, one who's whole world was about to end. He couldn't risk being friends with Remus or Peter any longer, Remus was a werewolf and a half-blood, and Peter, while a pureblood, was from a family that was filled with blood-traitors. Only himself was considered acceptable, a pureblood heir from a neutral family. If he left, Sirius would be alone.

He thought of Lily Evans, sweet, wonderful Lily, of how he would win her heart, marry her and start a family, he thought of his parents, their reaction to what he was considering, but in the end, the broken form of his best friend outweighed them all. Leaving had never been an option.

"What are you talking about, you daft fool, how are you alone if I'm here. Budge up; I'm not going to leave you alone, ok? You're stuck with me forever, whether you like it or not,"

Briefly, he thought of Lily again, his last lingering desires crying out as they were slowly killed. He couldn't do that to Lily, she deserved someone who wasn't about to sign his life over to a madman bent on killing people just like her.

The look of utter shock followed by the brilliant smile on Sirius' face squashed any lingering doubts and regrets he had.

~~BREAKLINE~~

1977, September 1st, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Great Hall

Lily bit her lip nervously again, shooting occasional glances down the table to where James Potter and Sirius Black sat. Despite sitting with the other 6th year boys, somehow they seemed isolated from them. They had been missing all train journey, not in their usual compartment with Pettigrew and Lupin. Lupin had asked her as soon as he entered the prefect's compartment, hoping that Potter had gone to bug her for a date again.

The entire train ride she had waited, constantly shooting the compartment door looks, waiting for the duo to burst in as arrogant as they always did, strutting around like they owned the place, they did so every year, she had reassured herself, this year was no different. Except it was, her journey was quiet, made worse by the achingly obvious absence of Severus. Ever since last year, he had been purposely avoiding her, even during the summer, she had not seen hide or hair of him despite living two doors down.

She had forgiven him for his remark, he was a Slytherin, to be defended by a Gryffindor, especially a muggleborn one, well, calling her a mudblood was one part self-preservation, one part humiliation to have to rely on a girl (and a muggleborn Gryffindor at that) to defend him. She probably would have done the same thing in his shoes. Still, it had hurt, more then she had expected, and she had spent a good few weeks getting over the hurt. Severus had been her first friend, someone who hadn't called her a freak because she could do things 'normal' people couldn't, as her sister always liked to remind her.

She had more friends now; the other Gryffindor girls, as well as those she had met in her classes from the other houses, but Severus Snape would always be her best friend, even with his fascination with the Dark Arts, if only he would talk to her so that she could remind him of the fact.

Shooting the Potter and Black another glance, she noted that the two had withdrawn even more from their usual friends, Lupin looking hurt and Pettigrew looking confused as the two semi-huddled together, whispering so quietly she doubted even the people next to them could hear. She suppose she'd had to wait till Potter started bugging her for a date again, while their behavior was strange, most likely they had thought of some new great prank play on the school, or they were planning on tormenting some poor student again. She'd have to warn Sev in Potions, there would be nothing he could do to avoid her if she partnered with him after all.

~~BREAKLINE~~

1977, November 15th, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, 3rd Floor Charms Classroom

Severus Snape was not one to usually accept summons from James Potter and Sirius Black, especially not those two, and especially not in the middle of the night, past curfew, when the two had a known reputation for being bullies, unnecessarily cruel and downright menaces, especially to him. Ever since first year, when he had met James Potter on the train and the fool had started insulting him in some vain hope to impress Lily, they had been at each other's throats. Severus disliked James Potter's arrogant, higher-than-thou rich pureblood attitude (Severus still didn't understand how Potter wasn't a Slytherin), and James Potter had taken one look at Severus' shabby clothes and worn second hand items and decided that he was beneath him.

Normally, he would have alerted a prefect or a professor, or even Filch about the midnight rendezvous already then let it slide from his mind, if it hadn't been for two factors. The first factor had been because Lily's name had been mentioned, he hadn't even read the message properly, only seen Lily's name before storming off. The second factor had been the foursome's behavior thus far, ever since the start of the sixth year. Normally, they'd come find him on the train, to taunt and bully him more, to get in charms and hexes before points could be taken and detentions assigned. This year, he had not heard a peep, left alone in his compartment. Severus had considered tracking them down before deciding that looking for trouble was a stupid and very non-Slytherin thing to do.

The strange behavior had persisted, they still pulled pranks, just two days ago, the Great Hall was greeted to some new colours, when everyone who drank any liquid at breakfast found themselves spontaneous changing colours an hour later, but there never was a target anymore, it was always schoolwide, and no person, whether it be Hufflepuff or their fellow Gryffindors, were spared. Severus himself had been sporting a rather nice shade of emerald, the same colour as Lily's eyes, which he found he was surprisingly ok with, he had seen some of the possible colours he could have been turned, needless to say, he was rather thankful it wasn't worse.

Perhaps the biggest hint that something was terribly wrong was that James Potter, star and ace of the Gryffindor Quidditch team had resigned, turning in his Captain's badge to Professor McGonagall. The rumor spread like wildfire, but it was during the first match, the traditional Gryffindor vs Slytherin that it was confirmed when the reserve Chaser Hartley flew instead of Potter, and Graham was the one who stepped up to shake Regulus' hand. Potter wasn't even in the spectator stands, and neither was Black, the two having disappeared during the match.

The two never called him names now, when they saw him in the hallways, they kept walking as if he wasn't there, and when he would be forced to talk to them, it was always polite nods, 'Snape' instead of 'Snivellus' and not a single hex or curse . He knew Lily was worried, he could see it in the way she shot them confused little glances, especially at Potter. And Potter, who usually fawned all over her, had slowly been distancing himself from her, spending more time with Black exclusively, even at times avoiding Lupin and Pettigrew. Severus was, to put it mildly, curious about why the two most arrogant pricks in the entire school had done a complete 180, and that had won over his sense of self-preservation.

Perhaps this would give him some insight on the reason the duo had seemingly grown up over one summer, the whole school had noticed that there was something wrong with the usual loud and arrogant duo, with rumors ranging from being replaced with polyjuiced doppelgangers to torture over the summer beating the arrogance right out of them. Severus had snorted rather loudly at that one, pointing out the fact that if anyone tortured the only heir to the Potter family, it would have been splashed all over the news. News about how Charlus Potter had ripped the torturer to pieces that is.

While everyone saw the big changes, he was one of the few people who noticed the smaller changes, like how Black made a great effort to avoid talking to muggleborns, it was usually Potter who did the interacting, Black often looking off to the side, half hidden behind the taller, bulkier Potter. He noticed how Potter started showing less and less emotion, an occasional smile or laugh, a quirk of the lips rather than anything loud and open. Both were withdrawing more and more, Black from people, and Potter from emotion.

Severus tried to look on the bright side, if it indeed turned out to be an ambush, there would be no interference and no teachers, which meant he could use some of his more creative curses, such as his rather new creation, Sectumsempra.

Taking a deep breath, Severus opened the door to the disused Charms Classroom on the 3rd floor, turning to look at the serious faces of James Potter and Sirius Black, wand drawn, just in case, because while he was curious, that didn't mean he was going to trust the two to keep their word.

~~BREAKLINE~~

Both parties stared at eachother, taking in the changes since the last time they had been face to face, Severus noting how the serious look on Potter's face looked so different to what he was used to seeing on the boy, how instead of the usual mocking sneer it was a curiously blank look, face showing no emotion, how Black looked even worse, dark rings under his eyes indicated a lack of sleep, skin paler then even his, missing the healthy glow it had before summer, and most importantly, how Black's eyes held such a defeated look, it was as if Black had resigned himself to a fate worse than death.

The two in turn, studied him, Potter's eyes racked over him, noting any changes from the previous year, which he doubted there was much off, though his eyes held the ever present guilty look whenever he thought of Lily, and how he had called her such as slur like mudblood. Potter's eyes shone with something close to approval, but there was jealousy was well and the same resigned look that was in Black's eyes. Something had happened after all, and whatever it was, had been far more important than Severus. He privately hoped that perhaps someone had finally managed to knock the two down a few hundred pegs, preferably in a painful manner.

"Thank You for coming," was the first words that broke the silence, and that alone was enough to confirm to Severus that James Potter was serious about whatever this was.

"You can thank me when I know why it is you called me out here in the middle of the night, using Lily's name as bait of all things," he sneers.

"You care about Evans, don't you?" Potter asked quietly, after staring at him in silence, as if debating whether he should have been there after all.

"That is why you called me out here? To ask about my feelings for a stupid mudblood?" he whispered angrily, annoyed to be called out for something as childish as competition for Lily's affection, turning to leave at an apparent waste of time. A part of him burned with the guilt of calling Lily that slur again, silently apologizing to Lily for slandering her behind her back. Since when did he call Lily by her surname? He wondered, noting the detachment in which Potter spoke her name.

"You shouldn't call her that, especially because you don't think she's a mudblood at all, you think she's the most beautiful girl you've ever met, you want to be friends with her again, maybe something more but you just can't forgive yourself," Black said quietly, freezing him in his tracks. He whipped around so fast; he was surprised his head didn't fall off, enraged at what Black had said. This was worse than tormenting him, humiliating him, for while the torment hurt his pride, this hurt his heart. "You look really guilty whenever you call Evan's a mudblood," he added quietly, eyes boring into his own.

Before he could say anything, Black gave him a sad look, whispering the words he had been running away from ever since last year. "She forgives you, you know. The only thing stopping you is that you can't forgive yourself,"

"Go and win Lily back, Snape, she's still waiting for you, go and make her the happiest girl on this planet," James said, the intense serious look shone with approval, as if he had passed some secret test with flying colours.

"What is going on Potter?" he spat, confused about what was going on, was this a new torment the two had thought up, to wave Lily in his face?

Black was the one who answered. "None of this leaves this room, understand? I need your word Snape, I need to know I can trust you to keep this quiet, at least until we graduate, then you can scream bloody murder, but only after we graduate,"

Severus said nothing, merely nodding his head, gesturing for Black to continue. For some reason, Black trusted him to keep his word, Severus realizing that despite the animosity between them, they both always kept their word, even if there was no trust between them.

"Mother wanted Reggie to be a Death Eater, she said he would make the family proud, defending the purity of wizard kind. I refused to let Reggie become that, a slave to a madman that would kill even his loyal followers, so Mother gave me a choice. Either take Reggie's place or leave. I choose my brother. The Dark Lord will have Reggie over my dead body," Black hissed, eyes narrowing as the memories from the summer were dredged up again. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Black feel silent again, letting Potter take over.

"Long story short, I found out about Sirius being a bloody fool and agreeing to this, and I'm not letting him go in there alone, if he goes, I go. I can't love a girl like Evans anymore, not as a Death Eater, but I don't want to leave her alone either, she's strong and tough but she's reckless as well, I want someone there to protect her, I want you to look after her, I know you love her, it's bloody obvious that she still cares about you, she sits at the Gryffindor table alternating between shooting you longing glances and us confused ones. So please Snape, forgive yourself and go to Lily, protect her happiness." Potter pleaded, letting raw emotion seep into his voice.

Desperation, despair, sadness, a hint of anger, and a hint of jealousy, that the one he tormented and looked down on all these years could have what he couldn't, Lily's love.

"You don't want to be a Death Eater anyway, yes I know Malfoy contacted you, he's trying to recruit you isn't he?" Black asked casually, as if he hadn't just spilled Severus' plans.

"The things they do, it isn't just about pure blood and old forgotten ways, You-Know-Who doesn't care for that, all he cares for is power. I wasn't joking about how he tortures his own followers for even the slightest failure, I've seen some of the nerve damage on Rodolphus when he comes limping back after a raid gone wrong."

Black flinched at the memory, nerve damage meant the Cruciatus curse and Rodolphus was well known for being one of the Dark Lords most loyal and fanatic Death Eaters. Yet even he, wasn't spared from the Dark Lords wrath.

"Please Snape, do not fall for what a madman promises, it will be too late to escape then and you'll be tainted by You-Kno-, the Dark Lord's foul taint forever," Black whispered, as if the words he was speaking were a terrible secret, which now that Severus thought about it, probably was. It certainly was far different to what his fellow Slytherin's had said about service to the Dark Lord.

Potter shot Black a look, more questioning from what Severus could tell, then angry or demanding. "Bella said to call him the Dark Lord, anything else would be rude or inappropriate. She enjoyed punishing me every time I slipped up,"

Snape shuddered inwardly at the thought of that woman's punishments, even now; Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black was spoken about in hushed whispers of awe and fear. No wonder Black had such old eyes now, it is because he aged years in merely a few days, Severus thought.

"They make service to the Dark Lord…no, to You-Know-Who seem like a proud and noble thing, that the cause he fights for is what the wizarding worlds needs. However, I sense no lie from you. I…I thought that what You-Know-Who fought for was just, I've seen the worst muggles have to offer to Wizarding kind, I thought them a plague on this world. It seems I forget that one mold does not fit all." He confessed, one of his lesser secrets, but a secret none the less.

"I'll talk to Lily tomorrow, I don't know about forgiving myself, but I want Lily to know I am sorry none the less," Resolve burned in his eyes. James nodded his approval once more, before turning with Sirius to leave. "Thanks for this Snape, look after Lily, please,"

Snape nodded, also turning to leave. "I should be the one thanking you,"

The next time he saw Lily, the first thing he did was apologize, before blurting out if she wanted to go out for the next Hogsmeade weekend. Her delighted smile caused a heat to pool in his stomach and for the first time in a long time, Severus Snape was happy.

From around the corner, hidden in the shadows, James Potter allowed a ghost of a smile to cross his face, before leaving to find Sirius.

~~Chapter End~~

Chapters probably won't be going in chronological order, the next chapter will be set in the current present, while occasionally, there will be chapters about the past, slipped in, most likely also not in chronological order, but mostly there to add background information.

Again, apologies for OC use, but there just isn't enough information about the Marauders School Years, for example, we only know Lily was a Gryffindor, not any of the other girls in her year, so I'm pulling some names out of a hat as filler for details like that.

Any feedback is appreciated, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Also, any inconsistencies with canon (ie someone being at Hogwarts when they should have graduated) that I've missed, if someone can point those out, I would be much appreciated!