A Bet I'm Willing To Lose

Chapter One

King's Cross Station, in London, bustled with activity, full of people moving fast across platforms to catch their train or towards the exit, hoping to get to the nearest taxi; businessmen dressed in fine suits and ladies in fashionable trenches effortlessly mingled with wide-eyed tourists from every country and young people sporting punk hairstyles and leather jackets.

It was a Wednesday, the first day of September, so most of them were busy thinking about work, school or how far was the weekend to really notice the small number of boys and girls of various ages that carried cages with owls and strange looking trunks before seemingly disappear out of nowhere in the middle of the crowd.

One of said people was, actually, strolling calmly towards Platforms Nine and Ten, looking perfectly at ease; her luggage was being gallantly carried by a burly, tall and handsome young man wearing a Saracens Football Club sweatshirt, whose red and black colours highlighted his pale, freckled skin and auburn short hair.

The girl beside him looked to be around sixteen; compared to him, she was definitely tiny, with her slim body and pixie-like face. She had his same milky white complexion, but her hair was light red, slightly bordering on blonde. She wore a simple pair of jeans and a green, long-sleeved t-shirt with the symbol of the Irish national rugby team on the front.

When they reached the brick barrier dividing platforms nine and ten, they stopped almost simultaneously. The girl turned and hugged the man, before taking the cart from his big, calloused hands.

"Thank you so much for accompanying me, Pat…Play well and make Ma and Dad proud, will you?" She said, her gentle voice tilted with an Irish accent.

"As usual, you mean?" The man retorted, a small smirk appearing on his face. "Don't you worry, sis, I'll be alright…Be careful out there, and remember to tell me if someone bothers ya, I'll come and teach'em a lesson!" His own accent became heavier with the threat; he was very protective of his little sister.

Fiona smiled and shook her head. "Thanks for the offer, Patrick, but really, no place is safer than there!" She told him, stressing the last word, giving it a hidden meaning only the two of them seemed to understand.

Patrick hugged her again, overwhelming her petite figure with his own massive one. The clock above their heads showed it was a quarter to eleven.

"I've got to go now, or I'll lose the train!" Fiona said, smiling at her eldest brother, before taking the cart and starting to move away.

"Safe trip, and have a nice school year!" He said, before watching her walk confidently towards the wall...

And disappear inside of it.

Patrick sighed and shook his head, smiling resignedly, before turning around and walk away from the station.

In the meantime, Fiona O'Flaherty had successfully reached her destination: Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, from which the Hogwarts Express would depart at eleven o'clock sharp.

She stopped for a moment to look around: the shiny, scarlet red train was the background for one of her favourite scenes; children and teens wearing wizarding robes or Muggle clothing rushed along the platform, pushing their carts, heaving their trunks on the carriages, hugging their friends or saying goodbye to their parents. Excitement for a new school year was palpable, almost solid in the air, mixed with the white smoke coming from the locomotive.

Fiona smiled softly, before pushing her own trunk towards the nearest carriage and letting the train conductor help her bring them into an empty compartment. She had been lucky enough to find her favourite, despite arriving quite later than usual.

She reached for her bag to pick up the book she had been reading, but before sitting down she put her finger inside the cage to pet her snowy owl, Leuconoe. The bird opened one golden eye, hooted softly and craned her neck to receive a gentle scratch.

"Are you happy we're going back to Hogwarts, little girl?" Fiona cooed, feeling the soft texture of the owl's plumage under her fingertips. Leuconoe hooted again, as if to answer her.

The girl settled down, knowing that her friends would soon reach her; being so near the Prefects' compartment allowed her a lot of privacy, since almost no one wanted to be around there and be given a lecture even before getting to the castle.

With a loud whistle, the Express started moving, gaining up speed by the minute, until it finally left King's Cross and started its trip up north, towards Scotland.

Despite being very absorbed by the book's plot, Fiona still noticed the bustle of Prefects and Head Boy and Girl moving to their compartment, as supposed. She even recognized Lily Evans's ruby locks in the middle of them.

The meeting must have been quite short that year, or maybe Fiona had lost track of time, because it seemed barely a couple of minutes later when the compartment door slid open and Emmeline Vance entered, sitting beside her with a flourish of her dark blue robes.

"Good morning, Fiona. How was your summer?" She said, sounding almost formal in her greetings.

The red haired girl smiled knowingly. "We've known each other for five years and I still haven't heard you say 'hello' once, Emmeline...It was perfectly fine, thanks! What about yours?"

The other witch, who looked solemn beyond her sixteen years, cracked a little smile at her friend.

"You wouldn't believe me if I answered 'tolerable', would you?"

Fiona laughed and shook her head. "Not in a million years, Mel!"

Emmeline chuckled, although she rolled her eyes hearing the nickname.

"Care to explain what that t-shirt is about?" She retorted, sounding more casual and indicating Fiona's t-shirt with her chin.

"This? Oh, just a bunch of healthy national pride..." Fiona smirked, showing the symbol to her friend.

"Isn't 'rugby' that Muggle sport your brother plays?" Emmeline inquired, a perfectly tweezed eyebrow raised in question.

"Yup. And he's also damn good at it! Maybe this year he'll make the national team for the Five Nations!" Fiona answered, her eyes sparkling with pride and excitement as they always did when she talked about her older sibling's sport achievements.

She was perfectly aware that when she started ranting about teams and test matches Emmeline listened only out of deeply ingrained politeness. Being a Pureblood witch, the only sport she understood was Quidditch, and she hardly cared about that either; but the fact that she at least tried to look interested was enough for Fiona.

"How was the Prefect's meeting, by the way? Who are the new Head Boy and Girl?" She asked, changing the subject and leaning towards her friend.

Emmeline was Ravenclaw's sixth year Prefect, together with Benjy Fenwick, whose constant cheerfulness compensated for the witch's seriousness in every situation.

"Caradoc Dearborn from Hufflepuff and Genevieve Smithson from Slytherin. I have absolutely no idea how they are going to get along for an entire year, but Dumbledore is known for making bizarre decisions, after all..." Emmeline answered, smoothing an invisible wrinkle from her robes.

"At least he didn't choose a Gryffindor!" Fiona thought, not daring to imagine what would have transpired in that kind of situation. At least, Dearborn was a patient person and that Smithson girl was one of the less nasty Slytherins...

"I still wonder what possessed Professor Slughorn to choose Rosier as a Prefect! He's such a barbaric excuse for a wizard!" Emmeline scoffed suddenly, her cheeks reddening in irritation.

"He probably didn't have much of a choice...Smithson is the only decent one in that year, not that I have much of an experience with Slytherins." Fiona said, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"That must be it, but still! You should see how he leers at us girls! I was more than ready to hex him into oblivion after just five minutes into the meeting!"

"Complaining about Evan 'the pervy' Rosier, Emmeline?" A male voice resounded from the compartment's door. The two looked up and found themselves staring into Benjy's handsome, smiling face. His smile shone so much that it could almost put his sparkling badge into shadow.

"Hi there, Benjy!" Fiona smiled back, immediately feeling happier. Honestly, the boy was a walking Cheering Charm.

"Hello to you too, Fiona!" He answered, before flopping into one of the seats, making his blond curls bounce on his forehead.

"You know, Em, you should really take threatening to hex Rosier into consideration...I'd just love to see his face when you point your wand at him!" He continued, a Cheshire cat grin widening on his face.

Emmeline rolled her dark eyes. "It would just be a waste of time...What's the good of duelling with someone who taunts you and then runs for the hills?"

"You could always hex his bottom so that he can't sit for at least a week..." Said Fiona, letting her lips curve in a mischievous smirk. Benjy laughed loudly. "Hear, hear!" He bellowed, raising an imaginary glass towards her in salute.

"At least he's in seventh year, we can always hope that he'll be too bothered by N.E.W.T.s to be a menace..." Emmeline muttered, crossing her arms, sounding much less hopeful than her own words.

"If believing it helps you sleep at night..." Benjy replied, slouching on his seat.

"Don't slouch like that, Benjamin, or your back won't thank you when you're eighty!"

The three teens looked up and saw Dorcas Meadowes standing by the compartment door, her chestnut curls framing her face like a lion's mane. She was the only person in Hogwarts that used Benjy's full name.

The boy's face lit up like a Lumos Charm seeing his girlfriend on the door, although he had already met her at the Prefects' meeting. "How sweet of you to worry about my future health, darling!"

And he was the only one who could call Dorcas 'darling' and live to tell it. The sixth year girl hadn't gained the reputation of being the first 'kick-ass Hufflepuff' ever without reason.

She sat beside him, greeting Fiona with a certain degree of warmth and nodding at Emmeline, who repeated the gesture solemnly.

Fiona rolled her eyes at the other two witches' antics. Emmeline and Dorcas were the most talented members of Flitwick's Duelling Club and had passed the last four years trying to best the other, without result. They were still on par, but had grown to respect each other as adversaries, before moving to tolerance for Benjy's and Fiona's sake. The Irish witch believed that the two had seen how easily they could be friends, but were just too proud to actually put the act down.

"How did your O.W.L.s go, Fiona? I forgot to ask you in my letters this summer!" The Hufflepuff Prefect said, her voice losing her usual steely edge while talking to her.

"Merlin, that's true! You refused to tell me, too!" Emmeline added, sending a mock glare in Fiona's direction.

"I did no such thing, and you know that!" Fiona laughed, while Benjy snickered, sneaking his arm around Dorcas's shoulders. "And it's not like you told me your own results, Miss Vance!"

"Not that they weren't predictable" the Irish girl continued, poking Emmeline on the arm with her finger. "Let me guess: Outstanding in Defence against the Dark Arts, Charms and Transfiguration, and Exceeds Expectations for everything else!"

"Actually" Emmeline interrupted Fiona's poking motions by grabbing her wrist and smirking. "I got Outstanding in History of Magic and Herbology, too!"

Benjy groaned. "History of Magic? Seriously, Emmeline? You're going to put up with that torture for another two years?"

"It's not my problem if you refused to even open the textbook!" Emmeline retorted, her smirk getting wider by the minute. Everyone in Ravenclaw knew that Benjy hated History of Magic with a vengeance and rumour had it that he had failed the subject's O.W.L. on purpose.

Emmeline had smacked him upside the head for that when she had learned of it, saying she wouldn't have expected him to do 'such a Gryffindor thing'.

"Didn't you want to know about Fiona's results?" The wizard pouted, not even trying to be subtle about his changing the subject.

"No matter how much fun it would be to tease you about your not-so Ravenclaw inclinations...You're right. Going to tell us anything, Fiona dear?" Dorcas commented, turning to the red head again.

"I got O's in Astronomy, History of Magic..." Benjy groaned again, louder this time. "...Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms and Arithmancy; E's for everything else."

"You got O in Arithmancy?" Emmeline almost screeched. "How in Rowena's blessed name did you do that? It was almost impossible!"

"Trust me, I thought I had done much worse than that!" Fiona chuckled, her cheeks reddening visibly. She still remembered almost bawling after the Arithmancy exam, believing she had failed it spectacularly.

"Defence against the Dark Arts was another surprise...I honestly thought I would scrape an Acceptable at best! Apparently, knowing the theory saved me again!" She added, almost as a second thought. DADA had always been her weak point: she wasn't a good dueller and preferred using barbs and sarcasm rather than hexes.

"I did tutor you, after all, it must count for something!" Emmeline grinned proudly, sitting a little taller, genuinely pleased for her friend.

"Are you going to drop anything?" Benjy asked, while rummaging through his trunk to find his Quidditch magazine.

"At first I thought of keeping everything...I do enjoy studying, you know?" Fiona said, adding the last part when Benjy looked up from his trunk to stare at her as if she had grown a third eye.

"Fiona O'Flaherty, Ravenclaw or not, no one enjoys studying that much! What's the point of being in sixth year if you don't get free periods to relax?" He replied, looking as if he wanted to lecture her about life.

"Are you going to keep whining like that or will you let me continue, Mr Fenwick?" She retorted, huffing in exasperation. When he got on a tangent about something, Silencing him was the only solution to make him stop.

He pouted again, waving his hand as if to say 'go on, then!'

"As I said, at first I thought of keeping everything, but then I decided that, after all, Herbology and Astronomy are not essential for what I want to do after graduating, so I'm dropping them...Happy now?"

"What is it that you want to do, by the way? I mean, Dorcas and Emmeline here are getting into Auror Academy, there's no doubt about it, and I've annoyed you long enough with my talks about becoming a journalist...but what about you?" Benjy asked, looking quite curious.

Fiona pushed a lock of hair behind her ear before answering. "I'd really like to do something concerning runes and wards...Flitwick suggested a curse-breaking career, although I'm more into creating protections, rather than breaking them!" At this point, she grinned wickedly. "Also, there's my plan B: I could pass my life scampering through Ireland translating every Gaelic inscription I see and find out its secrets! Wouldn't that be cool?"

"How does Care of Magical Creatures fit with these visions of your future?" Emmeline asked, confused.

Fiona shrugged. "It doesn't, but I like it too much to drop it!"

"So Ravenclaw of you!" Dorcas said, shaking her head and smiling almost affectionately.

"I'll take that as a compliment, Dorcas!" Fiona smirked back, just before the door opened again to reveal their other friend, Hestia Jones, dragging her trunk with her inside.

"I knew I should have checked in here as soon as I got on the train!" She said, smiling happily at them while Benjy gallantly helped her with her things.

Fiona's face threatened to be split in two by the grin she gave Hestia just before enveloping her in a bear hug. The Irish witch adored the Hufflepuff to the point of idolization: she considered her the most beautiful girl that ever graced Hogwarts walls, with her ebony black waves, gentle light blue eyes and rosy, doll-like cheeks; her sweet disposition made her likeable to anyone she met. Furthermore, she had Muggle relatives, so she was able to appreciate and share Fiona's bouts of enthusiasm for a music band or a particularly romantic film without needing an explanation.

"Happy to see me, aren't you?" Hestia laughed, winking at Dorcas and Emmeline over Fiona's shoulder (she was at least three inches taller than the red haired Ravenclaw, so it was quite easy).

"How is it that only Hestia gets all the affectionate squeals and hugs?" Benjy whined playfully, with his best puppy dog expression.

"Because if I did that with you, Dorcas would kill me, that's why!" Fiona quipped, patting him on the shoulder as if to console him. Benjy humphed and crossed his arms, while his girlfriend and Emmeline snickered behind their hands.

"Your hair's grown a lot! You've stopped cutting it, haven't you?" Hestia said, fingering one of Fiona's copper locks, that reached slightly past her shoulder.

"Yeah, I didn't really like the boyish cut, all considered..."

In the summer before their fourth year, Fiona had had to bear her elder sister, Siobhain, ranting about 'masculine girls' cutting their hair short to 'attract attention'. In a fit of mischief, Fiona had gone to the hair salon and got her waist-long hair cut as short as her brothers'. The pleasure derived from seeing Siobhain's outraged face, however, had faded as soon as she had gotten back to school; she had just let it grow back from then on and although it was far from being as long as it was in third year, she had definitely gotten over her 'crazy fit', as Emmeline had dubbed it.

"Everything's alright out there, Hestia? I wouldn't want to start patrolling before lunch because of some emergency!" Emmeline asked when the raven haired girl sat down beside her.

"Don't worry, Emmeline, it's been uncharacteristically calm until now!" She answered, smiling widely. "First years are their usual mixture of terror and excitement, the poor dears, but I saw Tonks entertaining a couple of them with her nose-changing tricks..."

They all grinned, easily imagining Nymphadora Tonks (who answered to her surname only), the fifteen-year-old Metamorphomagus in her (usually successful) attempts to cheer up some homesick child with her abilities.

"No one is getting into trouble? No Slytherin-Gryffindor fist fight in the corridors, no Marauder pranks?" Benjy sounded almost disappointed by the lack of adventurous things happening in the other carriages.

Dorcas narrowed her eyes. "The Marauders haven't done anything at all? I call that suspicious!"

"Merlin's beard, Dorcas, you make them sound as if they were terrorists planning an attack!" Hestia chided her housemate in a motherly tone.

"Oh, because stinking the Potions classroom with dungbombs isn't terroristic?" The curly-haired one replied, her nose wrinkling at the mere thought.

"Didn't that happen, like, in second year?" Fiona retorted, furrowing her brows in confusion.

"Yeah, they've gotten more refined now!" Benjy added, almost flinching when Dorcas sent him a nasty look.

"No, Benjy, they just evolved from terroristic to idiotic...Not something I would be proud of!" Emmeline commented, pursing her lips in disapproval. She uncannily resembled McGonagall when she did that.

"Oh, come on, are you telling me that even Remus is idiotic?" Hestia cried, turning sharply to look at her friend.

Emmeline's and Dorcas's expressions cleared. Remus Lupin was the only Marauder they could stand: he was diligent, gentle, well-behaved and also a Prefect; most people wondered how on Earth had he become friends with the other two Gryffindor pranksters.

"Please, not even someone as daft as Goyle would call Remus idiotic...But I can definitely question his choice of friends!" The Ravenclaw retorted, waving her hand as if to send a fly away.

"Well, they may be not the most rule-respecting people at Hogwarts, but even you must say that they're brilliant! I mean, how many of us would have been able to turn the Great Hall into an ice-skating rink in fourth year?" Benjy added, letting his admiration for the Marauders' magical abilities leak into his voice.

"And it's not like we know them so well as Remus would...They're probably much more than immature rule-breakers!" Fiona said, supporting Benjy's argument.

Emmeline's obsidian eyes gave a mischievous glint when they turned to stare at her. "You're saying this because you fancy Black, Fiona!"

Fiona didn't blush, as many other girls would have done when faced with such an accusation. She just rolled her eyes, a bored expression settling on her face. "Emmeline, I do not fancy Sirius Black. I just like to admire a fine male specimen from time to time, and he happens to be quite good looking...It's hardly my fault, is it?"

"Hey, what about me?!" Benjy cried in mock outrage. Being the only boy in the little group he always protested when the girls complimented another guy; the first few times he'd been serious, but now it had become an inside joke between them.

"Aw, Benjy, you know you own a special place in my heart! No one could possibly replace you!" Replied Fiona, batting her lashes at him and speaking in a high-pitched voice one usually used for kittens or babies.

Laughter resounded loudly inside the compartment.

In the very last carriage of the Hogwarts Express there was just one compartment: during the train's long years of service, it had been most sought after, since its isolation allowed a great deal of privacy and Prefects hardly checked it, since it was so far from their own; thus, it was a perfect hideaway if you wanted to do things you weren't really allowed to.

In the last six years, however, that specific compartment was practically unreachable for the average Hogwarts student, unless by explicit invitation: it had been, unofficially but unanimously, renamed 'the Marauders' compartment'.

And Remus Lupin was heading there after the Prefect's meeting.

The sixteen year old Gryffindor was the calmer, more level-headed member of the prankster trio known as Marauders; he paid attention in class, studied assiduously, didn't disrupt lessons and was generally well-liked even amongst people who couldn't stand his friends. For teachers, he was the nearest thing to the epitome of the perfect student; no wonder then, that his Head of House had given him the Prefect badge in fifth year, no matter the behaviour of his best mates.

During the summer, Remus had reflected a lot about his friends and the way they were viewed by the rest of their peers. While he couldn't expect to know what the teachers really thought of the Marauders (they were pranksters, albeit extremely talented ones), his being more approachable than Sirius and James, who seemed to be surrounded by an aura of omnipotence for fans or of intolerable arrogance for haters, had made him more aware of the student body's opinion about them.

And he had many things to discuss with them, judging from what he had surmised.

Their fifth year had been essential to define the Marauders' reputation amongst students: while in the previous terms they had been dubbed as childish, but cool and talented pranksters, things had happened to make people add some not-so nice adjectives to their name. Words like 'arrogant bullies' and 'immature gits' had caught his sensitive ears both during the return train ride in June and just moments before, during the Prefect's meeting.

Most of those, he knew, were directed at James and Sirius; and considering what had happened after the DADA's O.W.L. exam with Snape, he couldn't exactly blame people for thinking that. He himself still felt guilty for not trying to stop them and, had he observed the scene as a stranger and not as a cowardly friend, he would have thought the same.

Putting two and two together, he had understood that his friends targeting Snape and other Slytherins wasn't the only tense point (most students had been bullied far more harshly by the snakes during their school career, so that was just felt as House rivalry or deserved retribution).

James was seen as someone who had had everything good in life served on a silver platter: good looks, magical talent, old wealth, astounding Quidditch abilities, a happy family...If you added a definite lack of modesty and his cocky ways, it was almost easy to hate him. And it wasn't only Lily that considered him an arrogant prat, she'd just been the only one to tell him in the face.

Sirius, on the other hand, was viewed as a 'bad boy' living stereotype: devilish handsomeness, great talent in creating chaos, practically estranged from his rich, old, haughty family...Dorcas had made him notice that, no matter how many times Sirius said he was different from his relatives, he still behaved like a posh, arrogant aristocrat, he had only changed people and situations. Also, the habit he had acquired in the last couple of years, to flirt with girls, snog them for a couple of weeks and then leave them had started to gain him the nickname of 'man-whore'.

Remus didn't like this. At all. He wanted so badly to defend his best friends, almost brothers, but how could he when they only showed their best qualities to him? They had done so much, risked so much to help him, but he couldn't certainly tell anyone that they had become illegal Animagi to make him suffer less during full moon transformations!

He needed his friends to show other people apart from him that they weren't immature, spoiled and arrogant bad boys, and Remus had a plan to persuade them.

If he didn't succeed, then he wasn't worthy of being called a Marauder.

When he reached their compartment, Remus found his mates playing Wizard Chess and, as usual, James was losing miserably: apparently, the strategic abilities that made him such a good Quidditch player (and Captain from that year) didn't reflect on his chess game.

"Move that bishop away, Prongs, it's going to get eaten..." He said, after looking at the board, sitting down beside his messy-haired friend.

"Moony, that's called cheating, you know?" Sirius replied, his brows furrowing when he saw that James had immediately followed Remus's advice.

"Padfoot, he's going to lose anyway, it's not like you can't wait for a couple of moves more!"

"I just love it when my friends support me during hard times!" James grumbled, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Remus chuckled. "You're such a drama queen, James!"

"So right, Moony...Oh, by the way, Prongs, that's a checkmate!" Sirius added, his trademark smirk appearing on his face.

"Bloody hell!" James cursed, watching his king put his crown down before the pieces bowed and grew still. "That's the fifth time in a row!"

"I still don't understand why you keep asking me to play when you know I'm going to kick your ass, Prongs!" Sirius snickered, putting the pieces away.

"There's nothing that perseverance can't achieve, Padfoot!" James exclaimed solemnly, puffing his chest and putting a fist to his heart.

Remus and Sirius looked at each other, equally not amused by such dramatics.

"If you're applying this belief to your pursuing Evans the same way you do with your chess game, then there's no wonder she hates your guts!" Sirius retorted, pushing a stray lock of silky black hair out of his eyes.

James deflated instantly hearing this, then pouted and slouched roughly into his seat; the sudden movement made his glasses fall down his nose, giving him a most comical appearance. After trying to regain some composure, he turned to their scarred friend.

"Speaking of Evans, was she as beautiful as I remembered her?" His tone had gone from casual to cheesy as soon as he had pronounced the girl's surname. Sirius made the gesture of gagging from his seat. "I saw that, Pads!" James added, not even looking at his best friend.

"She looked well, and still royally pissed off with you and Snape, although for different reasons..." Remus answered, knowing that adding the Slytherin's name to the sentence would elicit a not-so nice reaction from James.

"What does Snivellus have to do with this? They're not friends anymore, are they?" The Marauder replied sharply, almost spouting Snape's mock name he and Sirius had been using since first year.

"Obviously not, but that doesn't mean that she condoned what you did to him, and not just last year, Prongs..." Remus replied, also glancing at Sirius with his disapproving expression.

"It's not like he was a saint, Moony! I don't need to remind you how he used Dark Magic to attack us, do I?" Sirius retorted, sounding slightly annoyed.

"No, but how many times did you start a fight when he hadn't done anything to begin with?" Remus didn't need to raise his voice to make his point. He pointed his amber coloured eyes on his friends' faces, silently watching them while their consciences digested the thought.

It was uncanny how easily he could read them, by now. Their shoulders sagged in unison as they grudgingly but silently acknowledged that, indeed, Remus was right.

"Okay, maybe we're a bit prejudiced..." James started, but Remus's raised eyebrow stopped him. He sighed. "Oh, alright, we are total gits when it comes to him, but so what? It's not like we can apologize and suddenly become friends with Snape!"

"Before that happens, hell's gonna freeze over, Prongs!" Sirius growled under his breath.

"No one is asking you to do that, guys...But maybe, you could stop hexing him just because it strikes your fancy; it's not so hard, you already did before, remember?"

Remus was obviously speaking of the Peter Pettigrew case: the pudgy, fearful Slytherin had been Sirius's and James's favourite target during first and second year, until Remus had threatened them to stop talking to them if they didn't leave him alone. And they promptly had, also because it was quite a bore to pester someone who was scared of his own shadow. Snape, at least, paid them back in his own coin...and most times did so viciously.

The two black-haired Marauders looked at each other, having one of their famous silent conversations; after almost a minute, they turned back to Remus and nodded.

"Ok, Moony, we'll try, but we're doing this only because it's you asking!" Said Sirius, his grey eyes twinkling with mischief when he murmured the last part of the sentence.

"It's better than nothing..." Remus thought, smiling resignedly at his friend's antics.

They had fallen into a comfortable, albeit unusual, silence, when James cleared his throat and, once again, turned towards the Prefect.

"Uhm...Is there any hope that Lily won't hex me into the next century if I ask her out?"

Sirius groaned and smacked his forehead so hard that it left a red mark on his pale skin. "Prongs, I beg you, will you not just find yourself another lass? Someone that actually likes you? Just for a change, you know?"

Remus deftly ignored the protest, especially seeing how serious James looked, and answered truthfully. "If I were you, I'd leave her alone for a bit...If she hasn't gotten over the last fight in two months, that means she still needs time to cool down. Also, I would suggest not boasting about your talents in front of her as is your wont, because honestly, I don't think she cares if you score faster than any other Chaser in the school! She needs to see the good guy behind the façade."

Remus's plan was now unfolding: nothing like the perspective of having Lily's esteem could persuade James to do something. His conscience nagged at him, saying it was a bit of a blackmail, considering the not unlikely possibility that Lily would never genuinely like him back, but he had to try!

James's hazel eyes were shining with curiosity and desire to understand: had he ever given such a look to McGonagall during her lessons, she would have awarded Gryffindor twenty points for 'genuine interest in the subject'!

"So, what do you suggest I do? Please Moony, help me!" The boy begged, almost whining.

Sirius, in the background, was suffocating for trying to hold up his laughter, but Remus let him be. "I'll deal with you later, Padfoot, don't worry..." He thought.

"As I said, refrain from asking her out as often as you did before, don't boast, and talk to her civilly...you know, like you do with Marlene, or Alice!"

James looked so dumbfounded that even Remus had to control a chuckle. "But...how will she know that I adore her above all others if I treat her like...an acquaintance?"

Remus sighed and prayed for strength. "Here we go..."

"Prongs" He said gently, putting a hand on his shoulder, "the point is, she hardly considers you an acquaintance...She doesn't know you truly like her, she believes you're just fooling around with her!"

Remus felt like he had just viciously kicked a puppy, seeing James's expression fall and his eyes widen in shock and sadness. Sirius abruptly stopped laughing under his breath and turned to Remus, his eyes steely in anger. "What the hell are you doing?!" He mouthed over James's sagged shoulder, his jaw clenched.

"I've really done it, didn't I?" James muttered, smiling sadly and ruffling his hair some more, making a couple of locks stick up on his head. The werewolf squeezed the shoulder he was still holding and smiled softly at the love-struck boy.

"It's nothing irreparable, mate! You still have two years to work on it and didn't you say that there's nothing that perseverance can't achieve?" Remus said, in a consoling tone, ending with a Marauder's smirk, soon mirrored by James.

"Yeah, you're right!" James answered, his happy demeanour returning fast. His optimism was almost unbreakable.

"Not to break such a touching moment, but may I add my two Knuts in?" Sirius interrupted, his voice sounding a bit harsh.

"What's wrong, Padfoot?" James asked, looking surprised at his friend's anger.

"Oh, nothing, Prongs!" Sirius said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "But don't you think that we're getting a bit over the edge with all this 'changing your attitude so Evans notices you'?"

"Do you have any other suggestions, Sirius?" Remus replied, barely furrowing his brows.

"Yes, Moony, I do: forget her and go on with your life! She doesn't like you? So what, that's her loss!"

James frowned. "It's not so easy, Sirius; she's not just snog material, I want her esteem! If I need to change the way I behave for that, I'm more than willing to do it!"

Sirius almost glowered at him. "If she can't see what a good person you are now, then she isn't worthy of your esteem, Prongs."

Silence fell heavily into the compartment, broken only by the sound of the train's wheels.

"Padfoot." James said, his voice stern but not angry, looking directly into his friend's eyes. "I know that you're just trying to protect me, and I swear, I appreciate it, but I'm not going to change my personality for Lily; I'll just show her something more of me...If she still doesn't like me the way I do after that, then I'll follow your advice and go on with my life. But until then, I won't leave anything untried."

It was obvious that when it came to Lily, James was extremely serious and determined. The messy haired Marauder hadn't told his friends, but he was starting to think that he may be in love with the red haired witch. If there was even the slimmest chance of him being able to make her at least be friendly with him, he would take it.

Sirius looked deep into James's eyes, then sighed and sat back. He raised his hands as if in surrender, muttering: "If you're sure about it, then I'm going to support you, mate, you know that..."

James smiled, nodding. "I do, pal, I do..."

Sirius interrupted him. "...But don't come to me sobbing when it goes all awry!"

James threw his hands in the air in exasperation, but was smirking as if he hadn't expected nothing different from Padfoot.

Remus, on the other hand, tried to contain his own smile. That was just the opening he had been waiting for. "When, Padfoot? Why so sure that it's not going to work?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, then looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "No girl is worth the trouble, in my opinion!"

"Why are you such a pessimist, Pads?!" James cried, sounding almost outraged.

"I'm not a pessimist, Prongsie, I just speak from personal experience!" Laughed the other, falling further into his seat, supporting his head with his hands.

"Sirius Black, are you telling us that you actually got tired of the 'snog 'em then leave 'em' method?" Remus smiled, trying not to sound too enthusiastic. "That may be even easier than I thought!"

Sirius looked so shocked that James burst out laughing. "I didn't say I was going to become a hermit, Moony!"

Remus had to support James's slim frame, otherwise the boy would have sprawled on the floor by excess of laughter. "Merlin, Prongs, give yourself a countenance!" He said, shaking his head and pushing his friend back in his seat.

Sirius passed a hand through his hair, huffing; the moment James stopped to breathe, he elaborated, unexpectedly serious.

"I do enjoy a nice snog with a good-looking lass, but...It's almost too easy! I mean, it takes just a smile and the lamest compliment on the planet and they practically jump my bones!" He sounded strangely frustrated. "Some of them were vapid geese and I knew it, but honestly, even some Ravenclaws became squealing fangirls after a bare minute! Is it so hard to have an intelligent flirting session before getting to business?"

He'd been gesticulating wildly, which meant the thing really bothered him.

"Well, Padfoot, if you want a challenge, why don't you go for one smart girl and work on that? Maybe you'll find your Mrs Right! What do you think I'm doing with Lily?" James said, smiling widely.

Sirius glared. "You, Prongs, are making a fool out of yourself with Evans...And the smart birds are either too ugly to look at or wouldn't have me near them for the entire Goblin fortune, because they hate me!"

"Hestia doesn't!" James retorted, trying to prove his point; he believed that Sirius hadn't gotten enough love in his life, and a serious (no pun intended), genuine, lovely girl was exactly what he needed.

Sirius smiled and shook his head. "James, name someone Hestia hates and I'll start paying attention at History of Magic!"

The other Marauder opened his mouth, then closed it, frowning. Hestia didn't really hate anyone, not even Mulciber, who was the worst bastard on Earth! "Damn, you're right..."

"Have you ever thought that a girl could be more than snogging material?" Remus asked, having stayed silent until that moment. "You know, like a friend?"

Sirius looked positively gobsmacked.

After thirty seconds had passed without a reaction from him, James shifted his eyes to the werewolf and whispered: "Um, Moony, I think you petrified him..."

"Give him a second, he's fine!" Remus smirked, watching Sirius's face morph from stunned to incredulous.

"Remus John Lupin, did you hit your head at the last full moon?" The Black boy finally said, his voice sounding slightly too high-pitched.

"I'm quite sure I did not. Just as I'm sure you never did think about that!" He smirked, ready to strike what he knew would bring Sirius over the edge. He looked at his fingernails with false boredom and murmured: "I wonder if you would actually be able to..."

Being a dog Animagus had gifted Sirius with superior hearing even when in human form; thus, he distinctly heard his friend. His back straightened all of a sudden, his face settled in a look of challenge, eyes of grey steel.

"What are you implying, Moony?" He hissed, while James looked at the two of them, confused.

"I just wonder if you could actually befriend a girl, instead of seducing her to get a snog..." Remus elaborated calmly, waiting for the bomb to explode.

And it did.

Sirius's eyes glinted in expectation. That was what challenges did to him. "Are you daring me, Lupin?"

The use of the surname didn't bother Remus. He could almost see the ends of Sirius's mouth twitch to keep an excited smile from forming.

"I was thinking more at a bet, Black...Want to hear the terms?" The werewolf answered, not bothering to keep his smile in check.

James was shifting his eyes from one to the other as if following a tennis match. He was surprised at best to see Remus using his Marauder side in full swing, and also see Sirius fall for it like a first year! "When did Moony get so Slytherin?!" He thought, eager to see how the thing would unfold.

"By all means, be my guest!" Sirius replied, opening his arms in a welcoming gesture. He was looking at Remus as if he were a hound and the werewolf a succulent rabbit.

Remus almost beamed. "I'm betting you to find a girl you haven't had an affair before, around our age, and become friends with her. No snogging involved, no arm-candy agreements for Hogsmeade dates...Just friends!"

Sirius's eyes bulged. "You're asking me to befriend a girl I haven't snogged yet? You know that's downright impossible, right?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Merlin, Padfoot, of course it's not! After all, nothing is impossible for a Marauder, isn't it?"

Sirius huffed, but relented. "What would happen if I, hypothetically speaking, lost?"

Remus relaxed back in his seat. "Since I am a magnanimous soul, your penance won't be terrible...You'll just have to rely solely on your intelligence to do your homework for the rest of the year!"

James gasped and Sirius cried: "That's cruel, Moony!"

The Prefect quirked an eyebrow. "Would you have preferred I thwarted every single prank you'll plan until we graduate? Because as a Prefect, that's what I theorically should do, you know?"

Prongs and Padfoot stood silent. Then, Sirius sighed and bowed his head. "Alright, alright, keep your hair on!"

Then, suddenly, his head jerked up and he looked at Remus with such a mischievous expression that the werewolf immediately tensed.

"But" Sirius said, smiling like a maniac. "If I win, and prove you wrong, then you, Mr Moony, will ask Tonks out on a date! That's your penance!"

James shouted and high-fived his best friend, bellowing: "YES! Got owned, Moony!"

Remus, on the other hand, became as red as the Gryffindor crest, making the scars on his face stand out like lines drawn with white chalk. Tonks was a Hufflepuff a year behind them, and Sirius's cousin: her mother Andromeda was an estranged member of the Black family, from Sirius's father's side, who had run away from home and married a Muggleborn wizard. She was great friends with them and Remus had developed a silent, but huge, crush on her the year before, but had never acted upon it. He believed she deserved far better than him, a cursed werewolf.

His friends thought otherwise. Sirius could have sworn on his magic that his cousin was just as smitten for Remus as he was for her, but the girl wasn't acting because she believed him indifferent. "You wanted war, Remus, and war you shall have!"

"Didn't we already discuss this? I can't saddle anyone else with my problems, she deserves better than-" Remus started, but his protest was shut down by a Silencing Charm.

"Remus Lupin, I didn't ask you to propose. For that particular step, there's still time!" Sirius said, smirking, then looked intensely at his self-conscious friend. "Seriously though, we know you like her. Hell, I think even the teachers do! Are you really going to spend the rest of your time at school with her moping silently because you're worried about your furry little problem? Live a little, mate!"

"And honestly!" James chimed in, smiling like Christmas had come early. "You're helping me pursuing Lily, and directing Padfoot to the pathway to happiness-" "Oi!" "-shut it, Sirius! Do you really think that we'll let you remain a scampering bachelor? You're going down with us, mate!"

The two black haired boys tackled him as soon as he tried to reply (the Charm had faded the moment James had started speaking), and a little fight ensued, interrupted only by the arrival of the food cart.

While Sirius and James charmed the lady and savaged the cart with old expertise, Remus shook his head.

"It's going to be a mad year..."

AN: Hello everyone! This is the first story I post on the Harry Potter fandom, so I'm walking on eggs here...

This is a slight Marauder's Era AU, as you may have surmised from the presence of Tonks and also the fact that Pettigrew isn't a Marauder (I've always thought that his tendency to gravitate around people more powerful than him would fit well with Slytherin...). Other details that differ from canon will emerge in the next chapters.

The length of this first chapter amazed even me, since I've never written this much in one post...It just didn't feel right to split it in two. They'll probably become shorter in the future, depending on the amount of my own inspiration!

I hope that you won't find the characters to be too OOC, and I most certainly pray that Fiona doesn't pass as a Mary Sue, because that's not I envisioned her...This is a complete WIP, so I have no idea when the next installment will be ready; please be patient...

English is not my first language, so any grammatical mistake is mine.

I most definitely don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters. The honour of it goes to Her Majesty, Joanne Rowling.

Please, be so kind as to leave a review to let me know what you think about it!

Hyacinth Judy