Carpe Diem

Somebody walking down Barton Lane may have walked right past house number seven. In fact, even if they stopped right in front of the red brick house, they may have still insisted that they were staring at the sky and wonder why they were standing there in the first place when there were so many important things that they had to do. But there was, indeed, a small family living in Number Seven Burton Lane.

At noon on a sweltering day in August, James Potter and Sirius Black were just finishing up breakfast in the large kitchen of that very house. Mrs. Potter bustled about the house, making sure that everything was clean and in its place. A tawny owl flew through an open window and over to Sirius. It quickly dropped two heavy envelopes down and left, flapping its wings importantly.

"Letters from Hogwarts," Sirius said under his breath, tearing himself away from his toast. "Our last year. Shall I shed a tear?"

"Nah. One year left to give the school Hell," James grinned as he grabbed his envelope.

"James!" his mother exclaimed. "What have I told you?"

"Sorry, Mum," he said, smiling innocently at her. "Slip of the tongue."

Mrs. Potter rolled her eyes and went back to straightening the books that had fallen over the night before when James and Sirius had been trying out spells on various household pests, namely the stray cat that had found its way into the house two years ago and never left.

"Bloody hell, James, is that-"

Sirius was staring at James' letter in shock. A gleaming golden badge had fallen onto the table.

"Head Boy?" James breathed incredulously.

"You weren't even a prefect!" Sirius said, picking up the badge and examining it as though it may be a fake. "How could you be Head Boy?"

"I don't know," James said softly. "What about Moony? He should have made it." <

"This is crazy. What is up with Dumbledore? Think of what could happen if you< were Head-" Sirius stopped. "James! This is brilliant! You, Head Boy, think of what we could do and not get in trouble!"

"You will do nothing of the kind!" Mrs. Potter said, hurrying over to study the badge herself. "Head Boy, James, that's fantastic! You must have done something to please Dumbledore."

"Yeah, like saving that berk of a Slytherin from being killed," Sirius said under his breath. James kicked him under the table. Just last year, Sirius had decided to play a joke on Severus Snape by telling him how to enter the Shrieking Shack. Snape had gone to try, not knowing that inside the ramshackle building was a violent werewolf. When James discovered what Sirius had told Snape, he pulled him back at last minute.

"I wonder who they made Head Girl," Mrs. Potter continued.

"Evans," Sirius and James said together. "No doubt about it." Lily Evans: star student, friend to most everybody in the school, and very attractive as well.

"That's perfect!" James said, beaming. "Head Boy, Head Girl, they go together, right?"

"You better hope they go together," chuckled Sirius as Mrs. Potter left the room to tell her husband the news. "This is your last year, mate. And judging from last June, I'd say she still thinks you're an arrogant little prick."

James rolled his eyes. "Say what you think, Padfoot. I have a feeling this is my year."

At that moment, James' father burst into the room grinning broadly, his wife at his side. "James! Your mother's told me the news. Congratulations!"

"Thanks, Dad," James said as his father pounded him heartily on the back.

"We can go to Diagon Alley tomorrow," Mrs. Potter said, glancing over her son's list of required materials for school. "I have to pick up some new robes for myself anyway. Sirius, would you like to send an owl to your brother and see if he would like to meet us there?"

"I think Regulus will manage fine without me," Sirius said quietly, the bitterness more than evident in his voice. "Always has, always will."

"Well, if you're sure..."

"Mum, Sirius doesn't belong in his family. Just because you want them all to get along doesn't mean they will."

"I know, dear, but I just don't understand. Sirius, you're such a lovely boy. I just could never understand how...oh dear, I'm sorry, please don't get upset. But I just can't see how you could come out of that family."

"Well, that's the thing," Sirius said carefully. "They're not my family. Blimey, I don't even think they're a family themselves. More like a cult. Hatred and family don't normally go together, do they? Besides, I feel much more at home when I'm here."

"And you are always welcome to come here," Mrs. Potter said with a sad smile. With a quick pat on the boy's back, she turned and left the room with her husband.

"We probably should send an owl to Wormtail and Moony," James said, trying to steer the conversation away from Sirius' family. He knew it was a sensitive topic for him. His mother was also well-aware of the fact, but sometimes her maternal nature got the best of her. She loved Sirius like a second son, and it really shocked her that his real parents didn't feel the same way.

However, James really couldn't blame Sirius. His parents were pureblood wizards who regarded any of lesser magical blood to be second-class citizens. He had only met them a couple of times, and he thought that to be plenty. At first they regarded him with interest, since the Potters were considerably wealthy. However, once they realized that James was such a "blood traitor" who had been pining after a Muggle-born for years, their initial warmth immediately vanished.

Sirius had run away from his home last summer and stayed with the Potters. Now he had his own place, a small house just a few blocks away from the Potters. He spent much of the holiday over at the Potters, so it really seemed like he never left. And James didn't mind at all. Sirius was the best friend he ever had, more like a brother.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "Wonder what old Wormtail's been up to anyway. I haven't heard anything from him all summer."

"I did," James said, playing with his new badge. "He said he was going to Romania for a few weeks with his mother. But that was a while ago, I'm sure he's back by now."

"I should expect so. School's starting soon too. Here, you write Wormtail, I'll take care of Moony."

The two boys quickly scrawled messages to their friends, telling them to meet them outside Gringotts around noon. Iris, the Potters' screech owl, accepted their messages and flew off to deliver them. With that, the two friends got back to discussing the upcoming year.

~*~

James and Sirius walked around the front of Gringotts, their moneybags heavy with coins. Sirius noticed that James kept on looking at his watch.

"Calm down, it's not even 11:45 yet," Sirius chuckled. "Besides, what are you so excited about? We've done this for years."

"I know," James said, fidgeting with his robes. "But this is our last time. And..."

"What?"

"Do you think Moony will bring Roma?"

"Why-oh, Gods, James!" Sirius burst out laughing. "You really can't get off of Lily, can you?"

"Well, he might," a blushing James said, ignoring Sirius' last comment. "She is his girlfriend. And if she perhaps wanted to bring a friend..."

"Well, old mate, I'd say you can kill those hopes right now. There's Lupin right now, and I'd say he's definitely alone."

"Oh," James said, disappointed. But he soon grinned when he saw his friend hurrying up the steps. "Oi!" Remus Lupin smiled broadly at his friends as they greeted him. He looked much better than the last time they had seen him. Granted, that had been right before a full moon, so he had looked even paler than normal in his anticipation for the night of horror as a violent wolf. But today his dark blonde hair shone brightly, and his skin had a tannish tint. Not a direct tan, but enough so that he actually looked healthy. His amber eyes sparkled in the sunlight.

"So, Remus, are you enjoying your holiday with Roma?" Sirius smirked. Remus blushed, but nodded.

"It's been...I can't even describe it," he answered as Sirius and James laughed. "I really like her," he added unnecessarily.

"And if you wanted to be a real pal," James said, elbowing Remus slyly. "You'd maybe talk to Roma's friends,maybe fix one of us up. Personally, I've always had a thing for redheads."

"You're terrible," Remus said, but he was beaming. "My talking to Lily Evans wouldn't do anything."

"Yeah, well..." James stared down at his shoes. "Where's Pettigrew, anyway? He's normally here before any of us."

"Especially since you were the one who wrote his message I'd have thought that he'd be camping out here in preparation for seeing you again."

Remus gave Sirius a reproachful look, but James laughed. Their question was soon answered when a short, chubby young man scurried up the steps. He tripped about halfway up, but quickly bushed himself off. He waved his hands high in the air at his friends.

"Hello, hello, sorry I'm late," he stammered, straightening his mouse brown hair.

"It's all right, Wormtail," James said. "But we've got to get going now. Flourish & Blotts a good place to start?"

The four friends nodded in agreement and set out to get their new textbooks for the last time.

~*~

Three hours later, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were sitting inside the Leaky Cauldron, a popular resting spot in Diagon Alley. Remus was questioning Peter about his time in Romania, while Sirius flirted with the girl at the next table and James sipped his drink. His friends joked about it, but James was seriously worrying about Lily. He had noticed her the very first day at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, her first impression of him had been less than flattering- he had gotten into a fight with Severus Snape over something so trivial he couldn't remember. But since it was Snape, chances are he deserved it. Still, it wasn't easy to forget the look of pure disgust on Lily's face when she saw it was a fellow Gryffindor who caused the commotion. Especially when she continued giving him that look for six years.

But this was his last year at Hogwarts. He had no idea what he was going to do when he left. Lord Voldemort was killing wizarding and non-wizarding families left and right. James seethed inwardly- he despised the Dark arts. The thought that Voldemort may come after his family next made his skin crawl. It also made him realize that he had to be prepared, just in case. He didn't want to have to regret anything he had done-or hadn't done. And one of the things he hadn't done was take Lily Evans out on a date.

"James, did you hear that? Peter saw where Gregory the Grave was murdered!" Remus said excitedly. He turned back to Peter. "Was there a real memorial? I would have killed to see that."

"Would you kill to see me?"

Remus' face lit up even before he turned around to see who had spoken. "Roma!You came after all!"

The short girl smiled as she gave her boyfriend a quick hug. "Yeah, my aunt decided not to visit us after all. Mum's out buying some quills. Hello, everybody."

The group all nodded and smiled at Roma Doron. Loose strawberry blonde curls framed her sweet face, and her blue-green eyes sparkled impishly. It had been hard to believe that Roma, one of the prettiest and most popular girls in the school was interested in quiet, studious Remus. Remus, in particular, had trouble understanding it. But by April of their sixth year, he had summoned up the courage to ask her out. Sirius and James were especially thrilled. Roma seemed to be the only one for whom Remus was willing to put down his books for, and he just seemed cheerier in general. It was also a perk for James that Roma was best friends with Lily.

Remus got up from his seat and offered to Roma. She almost sat down, but then shook her head. "Sorry, I'll be right back." She walked to the door and stuck her head out. "Lily, you can come in."

At the sound of Lily's name, James' hands automatically rose up to his hair. He quickly ruffled it, making sure that it was properly messy. He grinned as Lily entered the room, her long auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Lily stopped when she saw James. "Roma, I thought you said you'd tell me if he was here."

Roma smiled mischievously. "Get over it, Lil. He's not all bad, and you know it. Just give him a chance. Besides, I'm not the only one who's noticed the sexual tension between the two of you."

Lily rolled her stunningly green eyes, but followed her friend to where the boys were sitting. She grabbed a seat across from Peter and forced a smile. "Hello."

"Ah, Lily Evans! Simply spiffing of you to grace us with your presence!"

"The pleasure is all mine, Sirius," Lily said. James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew- the "Marauders." Remus and Peter at least seemed more civilized. She went to Remus to talk to on numerous occasions, but now that he was dating Roma she felt slightly more hesitant to go to him as much. James and Sirius, however, were another story. They drove her crazy, but she couldn't help being in a slightly better mood whenever they were around. That is, when they were placing hexes on random people in the hallway or taunting younger students. Still, they could make her laugh, however reluctantly. Their egos had both deflated a bit, she noted happily.

And for the next hour, there was plenty of laughter. The group, practically inseparable over the school year, had seen very little of each other over the summer. This was the first time the entire group had been together since school was out, and there was a lot of catching up to do. James hung on to Lily's every word as she excitedly told everybody of her trip to Paris. Remus and Roma were subjected to endless teasing from the others about their blossoming relationship. Sirius and James told jokes and stories about their "experiments" with gnomes that had the others screaming with laughter.

"Oi, Sirius, our friend's here."

Sirius turned around to see who James was referring to, even though he already knew. "Snivellus. Excellent."

"Why do you two always have to harass that poor boy?" Lily asked, exasperation in her voice.

"He's not a 'poor boy,' Lily, he's Severus Snape. And he's the biggest prat at Hogwarts," James answered, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Nevertheless, he still has friends-"

"What friends?"

"And a family," Lily continued, as though she hadn't heard James. "He's somebody's son, cousin, nephew..."

"And worst enemy."

Lily shook her head. It was a lost cause.

"Oi, Snape! Over here!"

Severus looked over from where he was ordering a drink. His gaze drifted over each member of the group, his eyes narrowing when he reached James. To James' surprise, he walked right over.

"Potter."

"Ah, Severus! Did you have a nice summer?"

"Excellent, as I trust you did as well?"

"Oh yes, simply spiffing."

James stared at his enemy, expecting him to pull out his wand or utter a slur against one of them. It really was fair game- Snape knew Lupin was a werewolf, and he had been known to call Lily a Mudblood. But to his surprise, Snape simply smiled and left, his drink forgotten.

"Did you see that?" James asked incredulously. "He smiled. He didn't do anything!"

"See, James," Lily said, unable to suppress a grin. "He's not all bad."

"Oh, no," James said. "He's up to something."

Lily and Roma exchanged looks of mild amusement. Sirius and James, however, were immediately discussing exactly what Snape had up his sleeve. It was obvious that he knew something, had something, or had some warped reason to be excited to be back at Hogwarts. That reason, no doubt, involved harassing the Marauders. They were sure of it.