A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! I'm getting dangerously closer to slowing down with my updates, but I'm trying to keep it up! Hope you enjoy this one.

swimdiva87: you are awesome.

Confrontations

"Have you looked at this one?" Sirius said yawning, approaching the table at the back of the library and holding up a heavy book about the size of his torso.

James barely glanced away from the book he had open in front of him.

"Checked it yesterday," he murmured, going back to tracing the sentences with his finger.

Peter was looking at a very skinny, tall book, which he had propped up in front of him on the desk. His eyes were more watery than usual and he had the glazed look of someone who had no idea what he was reading about.

"Read that one yesterday, Pete," Sirius said, as he sat down with a stack of loose papers bound with thick rope. Peter shrugged.

"Maybe you missed something."

Sirius rolled his eyes at James, but the latter was not paying attention.

"Here's something. The juice of ten leaves on a holly plant picked at midnight five days before the full moon is supposed to have calming properties," James looked up excitedly, his glasses askew.

"Do we have to do a naked dance while we pick it?" Sirius said listlessly. James stared at him in disbelief and looked back at the book.

"How did you guess?"

"Saw it three days ago," Sirius said bored, pushing his reading material away from him. "What a way to spend Christmas morning," he groaned.

"Well, it's almost lunch time. Let's take a break," Peter said, eagerly pushing away his own books.

James sighed. "All right, but straight back after."

"Yes Sir!" Sirius saluted as the three boys got up.

"What we really need is access to the restricted section," James said as they walked through the deserted corridors.

"Too bad all of the teachers hate us," Peter chuckled.

"Oh, they don't hate us. They just don't trust us," Sirius said, waving off the comment. "Although…I bet we could get Binns to sign a note."

"Really? That old fart? He hates us the most," James said.

"Only because we sang carols in his class for thirty minutes before he noticed," Sirius protested.

"Oh I'm sorry Sirius, I forgot it wasn't the worst offense," James rolled his eyes. "That changes everything."

"Look, we just have to maraud him in to it," Sirius said as they approached the Hall. "We need to tell him McGonagall needs his signature to punish us."

Peter rolled his eyes. "That won't work."

"Bet?" Sirius challenged, holding out his hand.

"How much?"

"I get to punch you if it doesn't work," Sirius said, grinning as they took their seats at the small table being used for Christmas lunch. Some of the professors were already sitting and eyeing them suspiciously.

"Oh fine," Peter said, shaking his hand.

"What on earth are you up to this time?" Miss Sprout, the young Herbology Professor said, leaving a smudge of dirt on her head as she moved her hair off her face. Sirius bit back a laugh and shrugged.

"Who, us?"

Professor McGonagall, who was watching, gave him a stern look but smiled tightly as food appeared on the table.

"We'll give you the benefit of the doubt this time since it's Christmas. Pass the potatoes, Mr Black."

Soon, the three Marauders were laughing with the few students and professors as Dumbledore pulled crackers with James, fighting over who got to wear the witch's hat with a stuffed frog on top. Finally, James won and stuck it on Peter's head, earning a hearty laugh from the Headmaster and the professors, who seemed to forget they were with notorious troublemakers.

"Get him, as he leaves," Sirius whispered to James, forcing a forged note in to his friend's hand as they watched Professor Binns walk slowly towards the entrance.

"Oh, I forgot I had a History question!" James said, convincingly, springing from his seat and rushing off to catch up with the elderly teacher.

Sirius jumped in to action as he noticed McGonagall's eyes dart after James.

"Professor Minnie, pass the apple pie please!"

"Black!" she said, turning to him. "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. It is entirely inappropriate for you to call me that nickname!"

"But it's Christmas!"

"Nevertheless!"

Sirius glanced up to see James approaching with the thumbs up and he grinned.

"Oh ok, Professor M."

And then he punched Peter's arm. The smaller boy cried out and scowled at him friend, but said nothing.

McGonagall sighed and massaged her temple with one hand as Sirius and Peter got up.

"Bye everyone! See you at dinner," James said waving, as the three followed the rest of the few leaving students.

"Those boys," McGonagall said, quite fondly to Professor Flitwick.

"S-So…we have it all?" James said, yawning widely the evening Remus was expected back from the holidays. Sirius nodded blankly, leaning his head on the table covered in charts and books. Peter was napping sitting upright in his chair, a little drool hanging from the corner of his mouth. The three boys hadn't slept in over 24 hours, preparing their plan for Remus' return.

"I wonder if he'll look all banged up like the last time we saw him," James wondered sleepily as he leaned against his propped up elbow.

Sirius shrugged. "I wonder what his story will be."

"You think we should even bother letting him explain?"

"Who knows? He'll have to come up with another story soon, so we might as well save him the trouble."

The door to the dormitory opened and the two boys sat up straight, Sirius kicking Peter awake. The chubby boy rubbed his eyes tiredly but sat up straight all the same.

"Hi lads!" Remus said in an uncharacteristically cheerful voice, waving but turning away immediately to put his stuff away.

"Remus, we have to have a chat," James said, indicating the empty chair at the round table they were sitting at.

"Hang on, I just want to unpack," Remus said. "Did you all have a nice Christmas? I wish I were here. I was bored to tears at home."

"Remus," Sirius said sharply. "Sit."

"Oh, hold your bloody horses," Remus replied jokingly, as he opened his trunk.

"Remus!" Peter yelled sternly, to general astonishment.

Finally, Remus turned, looking altogether in one piece, with the exception of a faint scar over his eye. He approached them slowly trying to push his hair over it.

"What is it?" he said, sitting down stiffly, not meeting their eyes.

"Nice scar. What? Were you mauled by a bear?" Sirius said, with slight sarcasm.

"I live in the woods. My parents do NOT hit me," Remus replied, bluntly.

Sirius nodded. "Oh, I know. I met your mum."

"Oh yeah, she said," Remus said vaguely, fiddling with one of the papers on the table, though he was not reading it.

"So, let's chat," James said, putting his hands on the table, facing Remus.

"Sure, what about?"

"Remus…"

He laughed nervously. "Are you kicking me out of the group?" he joked, looking past them at the door. "If you are, I guess I'll just go get some dinner. The food on the train was..."

"Stop it," James cut him off. "Remus, we know."

"What?"

"You know what! We figured it out."

"Well you'll have to spit it out, because I haven't a clue what you're talking about," Remus said irritably.

"We know you have a problem," Peter said.

"And we're going to help," James continued.

Remus stared at them. "What are you saying?"

"Bloody hell mate, we know you're a werewolf," Sirius said impatiently.

Remus cringed. "That's…that's absurd."

"Yes, yes, we can pretend we're wrong for hours, but it'll be quicker if you just admit it now," Sirius replied, with a hint of boredom.

Remus said nothing.

"I don't know why you lied to us Remus, surely you thought we were better friends than that," James said nonchalantly.

"I…"

"The point is…we know. We still want to be mates and we want to help you," Sirius said briskly.

"You…"

"We've been researching things for weeks," Peter said, uncovering some of the diagrams spread out on the table. Remus stared at the papers, a dazed look on his face.

"Remus' furry little problem," He read the title on a piece of parchment. "What is this?"

"Well we've got a chart showing all the times you'll be away, there. A list of new excuses, because honestly, no one will buy the sick mother excuse for much longer. Also, some potions we can try to make to help the transformations go easier. More research…and here's a notebook we'll use once we start figuring out your reactions to the different potions we brew. We just need you so we can start filling it out," James said proudly pointing each item out.

"I've been working on a potion with calming properties, for the last week. It's almost ready to test," Sirius put in. "Bloody hard too…I reckon almost OWL level."

"Wait…wait…wait," Remus said, holding up his hands.

James, Sirius and Peter stopped moving and looked at him.

"You…don't care?"

James shrugged easily. "Why would we?"

"Because I'm a monster!" Remus yelled.

"Oh come on mate, no you aren't. Maybe a Boggart, at best," Sirius joked.

Remus could say nothing. He stayed very still as the boys continued to explain their plans when suddenly he could bear it no more. His eyes began to glisten and he covered his face in a sudden, jerky motion. The others fell silent. After several moments of trying to ignore Remus' uncontrollably shaking shoulders, James spoke in his most soothing voice.

"Mate. You're a Marauder. And Marauders stick together," he said, patting his shaking friend's back.

"Through thick and thin," Sirius agreed.

"Always," Peter reinforced.

Remus nodded into his hands, still shaking as James patted him on the back and the four boys sat together in silence until he collected himself, noisily wiping his eyes and nose on his sleeve. The others looked away, pretending he simply had a cold.

"Well, dinner I think," Sirius said, standing as Remus' eyes finally began to lose their redness and he was breathing evenly again.

"And then bed. We haven't slept in 36 hours!" Peter said as they got up.

"I'll never be able to thank you," Remus said softly as James opened the door.

"You'll never have to," James answered as they left the room.

With Remus' transformation a few weeks away, The Marauders were able to focus on other things. They continued to work on Sirius' Holly Leaf Potion, getting Remus to try it at different phases to see his reaction, but soon they had another event to focus on. James' next Quidditch match was coming up and practice had not been going well since Sirius had broken up with Liv.

"She's crying again," Kelly Wood said, after Practice early one morning. She'd left the changing rooms at the same time as James and walked with him and his friends to breakfast.

James groaned. "We won't even beat Hufflepuff at this rate!"

"What are you talking about? You flattened them at the beginning of the year," Peter said.

"But they have a new Seeker and ours is useless these days," James said sighing.

"Oops?" Sirius said with a half guilty grin.

"She's ridiculous. The worst thing is, she used to be really good. Who'd be that devastated over you?" Kelly wondered, gaining chuckles from three of the Marauders.

"I devastate people, Wood. It's what I do," Sirius said, shrugging.

Kelly mimed puking. "Maybe with your face."

"Why don't you run along and find your friends," Sirius said. "Oh hang on…you don't have any."

Kelly glared at him and walked away quickly, not even saying goodbye to James who sighed.

"Sirius, everyone on my team is going to hate you if you keep this up."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I didn't start it."

James shrugged. "I'm going to have to score a thousand points singlehandedly just to make up for your sad ex-girlfriend."

"Don't worry James, Devon will sort her out," Remus said, patting him on the back.

"Hey, when do I ever worry?" James said, grinning.

"Showing off as usual, Potter?" came a snide voice from behind them and James turned, drawing his wand.

"Snivellus, I know you're tremendously unpopular but following us around isn't going to help your case."

Snape scowled. "Like I'd follow you. I'm looking for someone."

"At seven in the morning? Bit early to look for your very first friend isn't it? Try a party, or breakfast even." Sirius said.

"Oh shut up Black."

"It's astonishing how witty you are."

"Sev!" came a voice from one of the castle doors, and Snape raised his arm in greeting. James turned seeing Lily Evans waiting for Snape and he felt the usual boil of annoyance in his veins.

"Go on Snivelly, your girlfriend's waiting."

Snape pushed past them roughly to walk over to her, making Sirius cry out.

"Oh bloody hell; did he get any of it on me?"

"What?" Peter prompted.

Lily was within earshot now and she narrowed her eyes as Sirius finished his joke.

"Oh you know, the loser germ."

Lily rolled her eyes and grabbed her friend's arm. "Come on Sev."

Unfortunately for Snape, he missed the step she was standing on and face planted on the ground. Lily bit her lip, trying to help him up as the Marauders burst in to laughter.

"Blimey! Did you see that coordination? Trying out for the Slytherin team, Snivellus? I'd like a chance to destroy you without getting detention," James laughed.

"It's a shame Quidditch is the only thing you're mildly good at. See if you can make a Potion better than me, Potter!" Snape said defensively, scrambling to his feet.

"Oh no! He can play with a chemistry set better than me, Sirius, what should I do?" James mocked, feigning concern.

Sirius scratched his head dramatically before sighing. "I suppose you'll just have to live with yourself."

"Come on Severus, they aren't worth it," Lily said firmly as the Slytherin drew his wand.

"Is that McGonagall?" Remus said, looking behind them, making Snape turn quickly. He scowled at the empty corridor and walked away, leaving Lily behind with her hands on her hips.

"Them, I expect it from but I thought you were all right Remus!" she said, clicking her tongue in annoyance.

"I think you have it twisted, Evans. We're all right. It's your slimy buddy who's got the problem," James said stepping forward.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I wasn't talking to you, Potter."

"Why? Don't you loooove him?" Sirius teased.

Lily frowned. "Don't make me sick."

"You and Wood ought to get together, Evans. Have a 'Losers Only' party."

James stepped subtly on Sirius's foot to stop him, but Lily didn't see.

"Kelly Wood is not a loser. And neither am I."

"Whatever you say," Sirius shrugged, reluctantly catching James' hint.

Lily sighed in annoyance and turned to walk away from them, but the boys followed as they were all headed in the same direction.

"Nice pigtails, Evans," James said pulling one of them.

She ground her teeth but said nothing as the five Second Years entered the Great Hall for breakfast.

"See you in Potions, Lily," Remus called tentatively as she sat down with Mary MacDonald, but she didn't even look at them.

"Why does she think you're all right?" James wondered as they sat down further along the table.

"She borrows his Defense notes," Peter said as Remus shrugged.

"Your Defense notes? What about mine?" James said, as he stabbed some sausages on his plate.

"Because you and Sirius don't write anything down. You just know it all."

"I'm good at Transfiguration. She's useless…how come she never asks me for help?"

"Mate, you sound like a girl," Sirius sing-songed, making James turn red and grumble in to his morning tea.

"Let's just forget about stupid Lily Evans," he said as they ate.

As it turned out, this was impossible that day.

"As some of you may know, today is a very special day for one amongst us," Professor Slughorn said during their first class. The Slytherins looked up in boredom while the Gryffindors whispered together wondered what he was talking about.

With his mustache twitching over his large smile, the Potions master waved his wand and a large cake appeared in front of Lily, who went as red as her hair. He began to sing Happy Birthday, with only Mary joining in enthusiastically, though Snape clapped along from beside Lily. She covered her face in embarrassment but laughed as Slughorn told her to blow out the candles and encouraged the rest of the classroom to clap as she did. The majority of the room did so reluctantly (being filled with Slytherins and Marauders), but the normally sour, Kelly Wood smiled at Lily as she grinned at her gratefully.

"It's her birthday," James said under his breath.

"Older women are bad news mate," Sirius joked.

"Now, we will continue with our Hair Raising Potion after everyone comes to the front and collects some cake. Wish Miss Evans a very Happy Birthday all!"

The class lined up beside Lily who was handing out generous amounts of cake, but only James stayed put.

"I don't want any," he said to the others who looked at him in shock. James never passed up dessert. When she had given the last person a piece of cake, Lily looked around to see who she had missed and saw James sitting by himself with a sour look on her face. She frowned in response before smiling at Mary who offered her the biggest piece of all. The frown did not go unnoticed and James could think of nothing else for the rest of the lesson.

At lunch, James ran off to the broom shed to return his precious broomstick to the dormitory and on his way back saw Lily sitting alone, with a smile on her face. It was brisk weather but sun was shining right on her face and James felt his stomach go funny as he watched her. Glancing to his left, he saw a patch of pretty spring flowers, which he picked on a whim and hid them behind his back as he approached her. She was humming to herself, her eyes closed, contentedly when Snape appeared beside her, a present in his hands. From afar, James saw her shriek and clap her hands together happily.

"Oh Sev, I said you didn't have to!"

"I wanted to. You got me one last year."

James clutched the flowers in his hand tightly, suddenly feeling very stupid as he stormed past them. Lily was examining the heavily used novel Snape had given her in delight. He knew he should have ignored it, but he scoffed as he tried to pass them.

"Got a problem, Potter?" Snape called, making Lily look up in vague interest.

Feeling trapped, James stopped and shrugged. "Just looking at your gift, Snivelly. Did you use all of your pocket money on that old thing?"

Snape narrowed his eyes. "As a matter of fact, yes."

Lily turned to him in astonishment but his eyes were locked on James with disdain.

James snickered, though he felt a bit idiotic doing so. It's not like he even knew it was Evans' birthday: it shouldn't have bothered him.

"Problem with my taste in gifts, have you?" Snape said angrily, ignoring the hand Lily lay on his.

"Well if she were my friend, I would've at least bothered to buy her a new book. Or something better."

"It's a first edition of her favorite novel, Potter. You wouldn't know anything about it. Unless it was about your precious Quidditch, of course."

James shrugged. "An old book doesn't seem like a great gift, that's all," he said breezily, trying in vain to ignore the jab at his intelligence.

"Look, do you want something Potter?" Lily said pointedly.

Snape burst into cruel laughter. "Look! He's brought you flowers!" he said pointing to the now crushed bunch, James held tightly in his hand. Lily's face flickered for a moment as she stared at James in confusion.

"Is this your brilliant, expensive gift? Stolen flowers from the Hogwarts garden?" Snape taunted.

"No," James said stiffly. "Some first year told me to give them to you, Evans," he said throwing them at her. She stared at the fallen pile, her mouth turning down before she looked back up curiously.

"If I cared about your birthday, I would've at least gotten you some expensive ones," he said, barely looking at her. She said nothing, just looked back down at the flowers at her feet.

"Ugh, he thinks money will impress you," Snape said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, judging by present company, I don't think I need to do much to impress her," James shot back in irritation.

Lily shook her head, as if trying to clear away a headache. "Potter, do you want something?" she repeated, her tone, sharp.

James shrugged and walked away abruptly, cringing to himself as he heard Snape laugh rudely. He wouldn't let that git get another leg up on him. If he had to watch Lily Evans for every minute of every day just to figure out what she liked, he'd do it.

A/N: Here you go! Review please! Thank you so much to all my consistent reviewers, if anything I'm writing for you guys.