The Year It All Changed
Disclaimer: Everything you recognize is JKR's.
A/N: Please review ^^ I updated really fast ^^ One day, wh00t!
I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can.
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Chapter 2
"Okay boys, gather around." Mrs. Potter said, holding out a flowerpot full with floo powder. "I've got a few errands to run and I have to visit Mrs. Charms. Really, that woman truly needs to…yes well." Mrs. Potter cleared her throat. "Never mind."
She sent a flustered smile towards the boys. "Point is, I won't be joining you today. You just come back by Floo Powder, from the Leaky Cauldron. Tom's kindly given you permission to use the fireplace in the pub."
Her voice took on a sterner note. "And no joke rubbish whatsoever. I will not have you concentrating on pranks, what with the N.E.W.Ts (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests) coming up next year. You see they behave, Remus dear." James nodded impatiently. "Yes Mum." Mrs. Potter held out the floo powder. "Who's going first?" Sirius nudged Moony forward.
Remus smiled at Mrs. Potter and took a handful of the silvery powder and stepped into the empty fireplace. "Leaky Cauldron!" he said clearly, throwing the powder into the fireplace. Emerald flames emerged from beneath his feet and Remus disappeared. Sirius went next and James followed him, dropping a quick kiss on his mother's cheek.
Remus and Sirius were waiting for him when he stumbled out of the Leaky Cauldron giant fireplace. Remus dusted James off as Sirius hauled him to his feet and remarked, "Wormtail's here. Says he's done getting supplies already." He moved aside and Peter came into view. James grinned and slapped Wormtail on the back.
"Good to see you mate." He said. "How's your sick aunt?" Peter looked disconcerted. "My aunt? Oh… she's fine. It was just a cold." James nodded. "We're here to get our stuff. Want to come along?" Peter shook his head quickly. "No, I have to… meet my aunt here in a few minutes. You go ahead." James shrugged. "Alright."
The three Marauders, Prong, Padfoot and Moony left the pub and walked to the back door, where the entrance for Diagon Alley was hidden. Sirius took out his wand and tapped a few bricks. The bricks immediately shifted away, forming an archway. The boys split up, James heading towards Quality Quidditch Supplies, Sirius to Gambol and Japes and Remus to Flourish and Botts.
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Lily looked up in astonishment as her ice cream was plucked out of her fingers. She turned around to face a grinning Sirius eating what was left of her cone. "You really should guard your things better." Sirius remarked, sitting beside her on the bench. Lily smiled wryly at him. "Especially with you around?" She asked.
She stood up and started gathering her packages and Merlin's cage. "Do you really dislike me that much that you don't even want to share a bench with me?" Sirius asked, looking shocked. No girl had ever given up a chance to sit with him. Lily laughed and shook her head. "It's not that, I was just finishing my ice cream and since you've done that for me, I have to get back to the Leaky Cauldron and drop off all this stuff. I`m staying there for a few days."
Sirius nodded but didn't question why. If Lily wanted to tell him then she'd do it without him prodding her. "Here, I'll help you with those." He remarked getting up and grabbing a few packages. He and Lily walked down Diagon Alley in silence, Lily thinking, "He really isn't that bad when he's not around James. Maybe Potter is the bad influence."
"So erm… how was your summer?" She asked Sirius, shifting Merlin's cage in her hand. Sirius shrugged. "It was better than most of my previous summers. I spent it with James and his folks. Peter wasn't there because his aunt…" He broke off and grinned. "Well, speak of the devil! There's James now." Lily looked up abruptly to stare at the back of James' head. Devilishly handsome was definitely the right term.
"I'll go get him." Sirius said. He left Lily and started making his way towards the entrance of Quality Quidditch Supplies. Lily didn't want to see James, especially when she was feeling so confused about him. She hurried away, oblivious to the fact that Sirius still had some of her supplies. She went into the one shop she knew that James would never enter. Flourish and Blotts.
Dragging along an indignant Merlin, Lily hid herself into one of the many rows of book-occupied shelves. It couldn't have been more than a few minutes later when she heard three awfully familiar voices. "…right there and I don't know where she went." Three boys came into view. Lily turned the other way, thinking, "I hope they don't see me, I hope they don't see me, I hope they…"
"Oi Evans!" James' cheery voice cut through her silent pleading. So much for hoping. She turned around. "Oh my gosh!" She ran towards Remus and enveloped him into a hug. " I haven't seen you since forever!"
James smiled. "What? I don't get a hug too?" Lily backed away a few steps, a look of pure alarm clearly visible on her face. She was feeling a trifle excited though at his suggestion.
She buried the first reason that popped into her mind as to why this was so damn exciting for her. She was not going to let Potter charm her now. Not after so many years of bickering and arguing. "I am so not hugging you."
Remus stifled a smile. At this, James' eyes lit up and he opened his mouth to comment when Lily said, "Don't even think of saying anything, Potter. I had enough of you to last me the whole day." She picked up Merlin's cage and leaned forward to take the packages that Sirius was still holding.
Somehow though, in the process, she tripped and landed right into James' arms. Great. Exactly what she needed. James smirked down at her. "I always knew you'd fall into my arms one day, Evans." He said. Lily, who had been marveling at the fact that James hadn't even stumbled when she had crashed into him, stiffened. She flushed, as her eyes grew angry and she struggled against him.
"Let. Me. Go." She ground out through clenched teeth. James sighed dramatically as Remus and Sirius broke into laughter. "If you insist, Evans." James remarked, removing his arms from around her. "Oh I do!" Lily muttered, gathering her things. James smiled. "What was that?" Lily sent an annoyed look his way before turning and heading out of the bookstore.
She had barely made it out when they caught up with her. Remus moved forward. "I'll help you with those." He said and took all of the packages except Merlin's cage. Lily started to protest but stopped. Who was she to argue? It would take her ages to get everything to the Leaky Cauldron. She didn't necessarily have to talk to Potter.
Managing a small smile, she said, "Thanks Remus." The group walked in silence towards the pub. Apparently Sirius had told Remus and James where she was staying. Lily was wondering why they hadn't asked her why she staying there when James spoke up. "So how come you're staying at the Leaky Cauldron?" Lily grinned and plunged into the explanation, finishing with, "And my parents finally let me stay here."
Sirius grimaced. "Your sister doesn't sound quite…like you." At this, James spoke up. "I'm guessing she's really excited." Then Sirius and James looked at Remus. Avoiding their gaze, he said, "I knew. Lily wrote to me over the summer." Both eyes immediately turned to Lily. She nodded. "I wrote to him every week."
"And why exactly didn't you tell us that Moony?" James queried. "Why didn't we know about these letters?" Remus shrugged. "I figured if Lily wanted you to know about the things she wrote to me about then she would have written to you too. So you know those letters I received from my cousin? They were actually from Lily." James glanced at Lily. "And what kind of things does she write to you about?"
Lily responded before Remus had a chance. "It's none of your business." An awkward silence fell upon them.
-x-
"Hazel! Melody!" Lily exclaimed, thrusting Merlin's cage towards James and rushing forward. "It's so good to see you! I got your letter but I didn't know when you were arriving." These three girls hugged each other as the Marauders watched on. "I didn't know they were going to be here." Sirius said, watching Melody and grinning.
Melody Ann White was one of Lily's best friends. Loud and fun loving, things were never dull around her. A petite 5'4, Melody had a lively spirit and one of the fieriest tempers in Hogwarts. Her build, small and shapely was perfect however for the position she played on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Seeker. And she wasn't too modest to admit she was a great player. It wasn't only the Quidditch skills that drew the boys in though.
Melody had flawless, tanned skin, with a few sprinkles of freckles that sometimes popped up here and there. She had dark blue eyes, deep and intense, eyes that betrayed her every emotion. Long, curly locks of strawberry blond hair framed her face, falling delicately to her waist. Katie however had no time for playing with her hair. It was usually tied up in a messy ponytail or put in a bun to keep from distracting her.
Spending her time with Lily and Hazel, she had learned to organize her time to finish homework, have Quidditch practices and go on the countless dates she had.
Hazel on the other hand was more like Lily. She was Lily and Katie's other best friend. Born to muggle parents, Hazel Elizabeth Fawcett had learned early at Hogwarts that if she wanted to avoid getting tormented by Slytherins she had to be quiet and blend into the background. Around third year, all `mud-blood' jokes about her had stopped and most people didn't notice she was there.
She loved reading and was near the top of every class. In many ways, she and Melody were like Remus and Sirius. Hazel would often run into Remus at the Library at Hogwarts. Hazel had beautiful sparkling hazel eyes and light brown hair bordering her heart shaped face. She was neither petite nor large and seemed to slip into the back ground whenever she felt like it.
Lily and Melody knew how embarrassed Hazel usually got around a few people and never dragged her into conversing with them. They shared a dormitory with three other girls at Hogwarts. There was Heather Thomas, who was a sweet and shy girl and fit in quite well with Lily and her friends. The other two were twins. Becky and Sydney MaCilson. Hazel, Katie and Lily didn't particularly like them since they tended to look down on anyone that wasn't at their `social' status.
Remus was staring at Hazel from the side of his eyes, as the girls hugging broke apart. Each was wearing a huge grin. Lily walked forward and claimed Merlin from James. "Melody and Hazel are spending the night here and we're going over together to King's Cross tomorrow." Although Lily was sure that no one else noticed, she caught the glances Remus kept sending Hazel.
Melody grinned too. "I need to get rid of all this stuff." She gestured around to her bags. "My mum already picked up everything for me and Hazel."
Hazel nodded, staring at the floor. "Yes, we'd better go and freshen up." Lily retrieved her packages from Remus and thanked him. "I guess we'll see you tomorrow. Bye, Remus, Sirius. And Potter." She added reluctantly. Hazel giggled as the three girls headed up the stairs to their rooms.
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If you looked in a particular dark corner of the pub, you'd notice Lily conversing with the innkeeper. She had been there for several minutes, talking Tom into putting a charm onto her room so they could fit two more beds into it. The girls had wanted to have a slumber party sort of thing, before heading off to Hogwarts and it didn't seem possible with one bed in a tiny room. After making sure several times that Hazel and Melody would be paying for their rooms anyway, Tom agreed and left to place the spell.
Lily was a few paces behind him when she saw two people rise from a nearby table and hurry towards the door. One of them she instantly recognized. Peter Pettigrew. The other wizard however, was decked in a black cloak from top to bottom and it was impossible to see the face. Peter mumbled something as he walked past her and the hooded wizard followed. As he passed Lily, she heard him hiss `Mudblood' and Lily looked up to stare into the lifeless, cold eyes of…
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A/N: Was it horrible? Review and tell please ^^ I love reviews xDD I'm going to wait until I have 8 reviews until I post the next chapter. Whee, cliffhanger =)
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