Disclaimer: is not, was not, and never will be mine! All credit to the incredible JK Rowling! I do own the plot and some characters though!

Chapter 3: Time Will Tell part II

"OI James, Sirius!" the messy haired boy had just arrived on the platform with his blood brother, and they both whipped around at the sound of their names. "REMUS!" they both shouted in synchrony, rushing to greet their friend and pounding him on the back. "How've you been mate?" James Potter asked, slinging an arm around the shoulders of his friend Remus Lupin. Even though they had only seen him a couple of days ago, both James and Sirius Black were incredibly excited to see Remus, and they were going back to Hogwarts! "How was the moon? Sorry we couldn't be there after mate..." Sirius lowered his voice, which was tinged with guilt and regret. Ever since they had discovered that Remus was a werewolf in their second year, they had taken to visiting him every night or early morning after the full moon, intent on offering their support. What they hadn't told him of course was that they were working on a plan to join him. But they couldn't tell him that, not yet. Remus was a stickler for rules, and the reason he now had a shiny badge with a 'P' on it, marking him as a prefect.

Remus, in turn, was still slightly in shock of how accepting his friends had been. He had made friends with James and Sirius in their first year, even though they had become inseparable since the train journey. They even welcomed a short and chubby boy names Peter Pettigrew, though initially the friendship had been one of pity. However the four had struck up a fairly strong friendship, which had only strengthened over the years. Yet Remus believed that if the boys knew the truth about his lycanthropy, they would no longer be his friends. James and Sirius were, with the exception of Remus, the brains of the four, and they had puzzled over where their ill looking friend was disappearing to throughout first year. When they found on, on the contrary to Remus' fears, they instead vowed to support him in any way they could. With the help of James' invisibility cloak, they would sneak to the hospital wing once a month to spend the night cheering Remus up, regardless of how tired they would be for classes the next day. They became closer than ever, and carried out pranks, particularly targeting Slytherins. They became known very soon by the rest of Hogwarts as 'The Marauders'.

Now in their fifth year and the three boys, excluding Remus, were close to achieving their target. James and Sirius shared a secretive smirk over Remus' shoulder when he wasn't looking before they spotted their unfortunate friend being cornered in one of the compartments by some Slytherins. "Alright Peter?" Sirius asked, his voice dangerously low as he approached the door. He had a particular hate for Slytherins, thanks to his family being the worst kind. There were three Slytherins; Avery, Mulciber and the Marauder's personal favourite, Snape. Snape wasn't as physically intimidating and the first two, but he made up for it with his knowledge of the Dark Arts; he was the brains behind the terrible things this trio carried out.

"Looking for something Snivellus?" James sneered at the greasy boy. Snape glared back with a strong hatred in his gaze. James Potter was the most arrogant boy in Hogwarts as far as Snape was concerned, and he hated him with a passion. Ever since day one, the Marauders, particularly James, had taken to making his life at Hogwarts a living hell. "Bloody Merlin would you look at that? He's even greasier than last year!" Sirius glared at the other two and drew his wand, along with James and Remus. "I think you have somewhere better to be with your filthy wannabe death eater buddies, don't you?" the trio slouched out and Sirius stuck his foot out to trip up Snape. "Bad luck Snivelly, run along to Evans now and hide! Coward!" with a last glare of hatred, Snape was gone.

"Alright Pete?" the three asked in synchrony, clapping the cowering boy on the back. Peter Pettigrew still didn't know, to date, how on earth he had managed to become friends with the most popular boys in school. James, the Quidditch star and rather good looking. Sirius, the best looking boy in school, lusted after by all the girls. Remus, the studious gentlemanly one, good looking in a more modest way. And then there was Peter. What was he, exactly? Where did he fit into the equation? Ah that's right, the reject. He wasn't any of the above, or even anything good on top of that. But he didn't care, he had friends who he knew he could hide behind, they would protect him from anything. As long as he had them, he was safe.

As the train speeded on, the boys indulged themselves on the treats from the trolley and many rounds of exploding snap. Peter's eyebrows were almost completely singed off, to the other's amusement, and his robes continued to smoke.

"Remus?" the Marauder's heads jerked up at the voice as they heard their compartment door slide open. James' head rose quicker than the rest and his hand went up to ruffle his already impossibly untidy hair. "Evans!" he beamed at the object of his love. In return, he got a gaze filled with anger and hatred, but he didn't care. He studied the beautiful witch before him, and was once again reminded why he had been after her since the beginning of first year. With long, shining red hair that fell in waves to her waist and emphasised her perfectly curvy figure, a fringe which was growing out and partly obscured her glittering green eyes, Lily Evans was hands down the most beautiful girl in school. From his point of view anyway. And she hated him from the very start. "I've missed you Evans! Go to the first Hogsmead visit with me?" James asked, ever hopeful.

"In your dreams Potter" Lily spat at him, rolling her eyes. It was customary for James Potter to ask her out every time he saw her. Shame some things never changed... "We're required in the prefect's carriage Remus" she smiled sweetly at the other prefect and the only Marauder she liked, before exiting. "Why does she talk nicely to you?" James wined for the thousandth time.

Remus didn't grace this with an answer, but simply patted him on the back before leaving the carriage behind Lily. Sirius on the other hand, chucked the book Remus had been reading at James' head. "When will you shut up about Evans mate? She doesn't like you! This is fifth year now, time to get some birds and forget about her!" Sirius didn't particularly like Lily Evans. She had disliked him since the beginning, without really waiting for a reason why. On top of that, he loved James like a brother, he was his best friend. And Lily's constant rejections often got him down. He also didn't understand how James could pine after one girl for five years. He was a notorious womanizer at Hogwarts, and he was proud of it. No girl could hold him down for long, though many tried their best. A part of him wondered if he just hadn't met his Lily yet. But really, he thought that wasn't his way. One bird, for the rest of his life? He had so much more left to experience! Or rather, so many more girls left to experience; he was far from finished. He had his fan girls and his friends and he regarded himself as perfectly happy.

At the welcome feast, James and Sirius locked eyes across the table and gave a minute nod at each other. Sirius got his wand out and hid it under the table and turned to Marlene McKinnon, one of the few girls who had not fallen prey to his charms. "Alright love?" he asked with his trademark wink. While everyone ignored the fact that Sirius Black was attracting another target, he used it as the perfect cover and pointed his wand at the staff table and murmured "incendio". At that, his spell connected with Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks placed under the table earlier. Though they were no heat, incendio added heat through fire which tripled the power of the fireworks. They exploded out from under Dumbledore's feet and formed a giant red and gold lion, yellow and black badger and a blue and bronze eagle. Between them, a small, pathetic green and silver snake slithered through between them. The lion barked out a laugh and stamped on the snake, which struggled under its paw before exploding in a shower of green and silver sparks which rained down and targeted the Slytherins and singed their robes. Three houses were roaring with laughter, while the remaining house was roaring in anger.

A few hours later, James and Sirius were on their first nightly trip to the kitchens, still smirking from their earlier display. "Did you see their faces? Priceless! Malfoy's precious hair got singed!" they roared with laughter as they turned a corner, only to see a brunette haired girl crumple to the floor. "See that Jamesy? Another one's fainted at the sight of me!" Sirius smirked cockily until James whacked him in the crotch. "Shut up dolt! I think this one's actually injured or something Siri!"

The two boys rushed forward, and Sirius gazed down at the girl before them. She appeared to be unconscious, but he couldn't help but notice that she was rather pretty. Long curling brunette hair framed her creamy face and her skin looked like satin, she had delicate features and her long dark lashes and red lips stood out from her pale skin. "Don't recognise her, do you?" Sirius questioned. The mystery girl's eyes flashed open, wide with shock. Silvery gray met warm chocolate as the two gazed at each other. "Where am I?" she rasped, confused by what she was seeing. She tore her eyes away from the handsome dark haired boy leaning over her and looked at the other one. "Harry?!" but something was wrong. His eyes weren't green, they were... hazel? She stared, utterly bemused. "You're at Hogwarts love" a velvet voice wrapped around her and made her shiver. She looked back at the dark haired boy, as that was less confusing that Harry's look alike. Yet there was something vaguely familiar about him, she just couldn't put her finger on it...

"What year is it?" the boys regarded her in confusion. "1975, the year of the Marauders" Sirius said with a wink. The girl promptly fainted again, but not before they registered the shock on her face.

A/N

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