In the Time of the Marauders

In the Time of the Marauders

Prologue

Lily Evans fumed off her anger as she stomped her way up the stone steps of Hogwarts Castle and briskly took off up the stairs towards the Gryffindor Common Room.

"I hate that James Potter! The nerve of him! How dare he even think of asking me out after tormenting students! He's so..."

"Arrogant?" Suggested the portrait of the Fat Lady, now intently listening in on Lily's thoughts.

"No one asked you!" Lily spat. "Muggletrouble."

"That's certainly what you cause, dear..." The Fat Lady added her last input before creaking open and revealing the cozy Gryffindor Common Room.

Lily trudged up the steps to her dormitory and slammed the door shut. Luckily, her dorm was empty and deserted. She fell back onto her four-poster bed and used to wand to magically draw back all the drapes.

"The nerve of them, the whole lot!" She shouted, clenching her fists.

"Well now, dear, they can't be all that bad..." Her mirror put in, "I mean really, there's some good in everyone!"

"Nobody asked you either!" Lily barked, stretching for her wand. "Shut up or I'll shatter you!"

"And then you'll just have bad luck and a broken mirror - how will that solve problems?" The voice calmly stated. "I'm only suggesting that you listen to me - I've seen centuries of girls having trouble with boys."

"Well..." Lily began, concentrating on the four Marauders. "James Potter is the most arrogant git I have ever met! He thinks he's so cool ruffling his hair, smirking at all the other girls, throwing that snitch around! The worst part is how he leads around his cronies!"

"Go on..." The mirror pushed.

"Sirius Black is just as bad if not worse - they're practically inseparable! They torment everyone! Peter Pettigrew - I can't believe what they've done to that poor boy, why he would hang around with the others I will never understand. And then...Remus Lupin. I almost feel sorry for that one too, though it is rumored that most of their more complex plans are concocted by him. He has enough on his plate already with his sick aunt! They are all nothing but TROUBLE!"

The mirror, however, remained silent, and a creaking noise at the door made Lily jump as she pulled back the curtains hanging down over her four-poster.

"Lily Evans, miss!" A high-pitched voice proclaimed.

"Hello...?" Lily stuttered, surveying the room. She soon saw a short house elf standing by the side of her bed.

"Headmaster Dumbledore wishes to see you! In his office - you in trouble!"

"What?" Lily shrieked, her heart now hammering in her chest. "What did I do?"

"I don't know - I'm only here on orders to make sure you go, hurries!"

Lily was out of her dormitory and bounding down the staircase faster than a rampaging hippogriff.

The house elf shortly followed down, with a book firmly grasped in her hand. She crept down to the common room and met Remus Lupin sitting by the fire.

"Here you are master Remus, I got her out of her dorm and stole her diary - just like you told good Minky! Minky receives orders, so she does them!"

A broad grin spread across Remus' face.

"Excellent, Minky - I promise that I will never - ever give you any clothes."

Minky beamed and slipped out of the common room through the portrait hole, happier than she had ever been.

Remus sat down with the diary and opened to the very first page and began to read.

He had the perfect plan...and it was only unfolding.