The Marauders Era

Back at Hogwarts for 7th Year

Sirius and James ate a quick breakfast then helped Mr. Potter heave their trunks into the car. They arrived at King's Cross Station and passed through the brick wall onto Platform 9 and ¾. Remus was already there waiting for them, he hugged Mrs. Potter, clapped Sirius on the back, ruffled up James' hair and shook Mr. Potter's hand. "Come on boys, let's get a compartment before all the good ones are gone." Remus said, picking up his trunk and leading James and Sirius towards the train. As they climbed aboard Sirius spotted Regulus, clenched his jaw and turned away, hoping not to see any more Blacks. James noticed this and flung an arm around Sirius' shoulders and cracked a joke. Remus rolled his eyes as he slid open a door to an empty compartment. Once they'd all got their trunks up in the luggage rack Peter arrived.

The four boys left the train to say goodbye to their parents. It was then that James spotted Lily chatting to Alice. "Oi Evans!" he called. She looked around and smiled at him. He dashed forwards to greet her and she hugged him, as they broke apart her lips met his. James almost heard Sirius' jaw drop behind him, he grinned, kissing Lily at the same time.

A week passed and the full moon came around again. "Guys, it's six o'clock. I'd better go." Remus said, getting up. "See you in a bit Moony." Sirius said with a wink. Lily, who was sitting on the couch with James' arm around her hugged Remus goodbye and they all watched him leave.

About half an hour later Sirius and Peter hurried upstairs to their dormitory. "I've got to go Lily, trust me, I'll be fine, I'll see you in the morning." James murmured into Lily's ear. She looked confused but James pressed his lips to hers and then jumped over the back of the couch and strolled over the staircase that led to the boys dormitories. Upstairs Peter pulled the Invisibility Cloak out of James' trunk and Sirius moved some books from the bookshelf and took the Marauders Map out from behind A History of Magic. They threw the Cloak over themselves, Sirius tapped the blank parchment with his wand and said "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.", words appeared on the parchment, spreading from the centre of the page to the very corners. It was routine by now, they'd done it so many times. They waited a few minutes until someone left the common room, then slipped out after them. The halls were deserted, except for occasional ghosts drifting past. They reached the Entrance Hall and Peter pushed the front doors open. By the time they were out in the grounds James ripped off the Cloak. They walked down to the Whomping Willow and slipped into the bushes. Sirius tucked the Invisibility Cloak and the Marauders Map by the roots of a tree and they huddled close together. This was tradition, they would always huddle close before they transformed. James closed his eyes and felt a strange sensation pass through him. When he opened his eyes again a black dog the size of a bear and little rat looked up at him. Peter led the way back to the Whomping Willow, he ducked underneath the wild branches and pressed his paw on a knot on the trunk. The branches froze and Wormtail disappeared. James and Sirius followed, James' antlers just brushing the roof of the tunnel. After a few minutes of walking the sound of howls reached their ears and they quickened their pace.

"I have to say, that was pretty cool." James said laughing as they walked up the grassy hill. Sirius drained his bottle of butterbeer and laughed. Remus was buttoning up his shirt, the scars on his chest visible. "Here you are Moony." James said, passing Remus his Gryffindor tie. As Peter handed Remus various other items of clothing Sirius pulled a slab of Honeydukes best chocolate out of his pocket. "Take this Moony." he said, passing Remus the chocolate with a quick kiss. Chocolate was Remus' medicine after transformation. He would eat a block a day during the time of full moon.

They sneaked back into the castle and joined the crowd heading into the Great Hall. It was a Friday so they had a free period before break. They quickly ate their breakfast then went back up to the common room. They fell, exhausted, into bed and slept for an hour. James woke up first and literally dragged Sirius out of bed. Finally Sirius fell out of his four-poster and tangled himself up in his blankets trying to get up. "Get up Padfoot, we've got Transfiguration in fifteen minutes." James said, smacking Sirius with the Marauders Map.

The next evening they repeated the process, following Remus down to the Whomping Willow, transforming, spending an evening roaming Hogsmeade, then strolling back up to the castle, laughing and eating Honeydukes sweets. It was Gryffindor versus Slytherin, the first Quidditch match of the season. The Slytherin table hissed as James entered the Hall. Once the four of them had sat down and got started on breakfast, Lily came over. "Good luck Potter." Lily said with a grin. She kissed James, snatched a ration of bacon off his plate, and ran off. James sighed, watching her join her friends. "You are pathetic." Sirius said with a laugh, pouring himself some pumpkin juice. "As if you don't melt everytime Moony kisses you." James replied. Sirius returned to his breakfast without replying, smirking to himself, though Remus saw it. "Listen we'd better go Padfoot." James said, dropping his fork. "Good luck!" Peter said. "Have a good game guys." Remus said as Sirius kissed the top of his head.

In the changing rooms Sirius was dancing around, shirtless, swinging his bat around. The rest of the team weren't phased, this was quite normal for Sirius. James left the Captain's office and threw Sirius' scarlet robes at him, pointing his wand at him and sending him backwards to sit down on the bench with everyone else. "Right everyone, lets go out there and fucking smash Slytherin." James said and they all left the changing room.

"Mount your brooms." then there was a whistle and they all flew off. James caught the Quaffle and sped down half the pitch before throwing the ball over the head of a Slytherin Beater and into the hands of a fellow Chaser. James ducked past a Bludger, Sirius came whooshing by to hit it towards a Slytherin Chaser and fistbumped James as he passed. James then collected the Quaffle, swerved past the Keeper and slipped it through the goal. He cheered and spotted Lily in the crowd. He grinned at her and blew her a kiss, but in a cool way. She giggled and smiled at him.

After twenty minutes Regulus was closing in on the Snitch, but then Sirius knocked him aside with a Bludger and the Gryffindor Seeker snatched it out of the air.

Everyone cheered and Remus and Peter came running over to James and Sirius. "Party in the common room!" Remus yelled as the team went into the changing room.

James and Sirius walked back through the castle towards Gryffindor tower with the rest of the team. By the time they reached the seventh floor they could hear loud music and the floor shook slightly. Knowing just what to expect, James stepped through the portrait hole in a wild party. Sirius hurried to the front of the room and started tossing around sweets and juggling butterbeer bottles. James filled up a goblet with some iced pumpkin juice and scanned the crowd for a sight of the person he wanted to talk to more than ever. There she was, over beside the fire, drinking a butterbeer and talking to Remus.

James ran over, as well as you can in a room packed with people and jumped over the back of the couch to sit between Remus and Lily. James opened his arms for a hug but Lily grabbed the front of his robes and pulled him towards her, making James spill his goblet of pumpkin juice. She kissed him, the noise of the party disappeared, the only thing James was aware of was Lily, her dark red hair tickling his face, her fist still clutching his scarlet Quidditch robes and her other hand on his back. Lily grinned and grabbed his hand as they broke apart. "See you Moony." James said, almost throwing his half full goblet onto a nearby table. Lily gripped James' hand tighter still and tugged him away towards the portrait hole. Sirius, who was still throwing snacks into the crowd, winked at James as he hurried past, a grin spread across his face.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were all up in their dormitory just after dinner and the party was still raging downstairs. James had just finished telling his friends what had happened after he and Lily had left the common room, though not in immense detail.