Introduction and Disclaimer

Just to any potential readers, a few beginning notes about this story - I started writing the dialogue of this story when I was about fourteen or fifteen years old. I'm really not sure anymore. But I'm almost twenty-one years now, as of this posting. When I first started writing this story, which is currently completely written in dialogue-form and only lacks the narration, the Harry Potter series was not even completely written, and there were a lot of things about the characters that weren't yet revealed. I was also considerably younger.

While I'm editing as I go along and write the narration, I still like the feel of seeing the way the characters grow up as I as the author get older. It's going to be slightly AU, I admit ahead of time - it comes with coming up with the story before having all the facts, and being terribly attached to some of the things I've written into the story. But I really urge you to stick with the story and give any feedback you might have. This story has waited a long time to come to fruition in any case, and while I'll be happy to write it even if no one reads it, I would be lying if I said that I wouldn't like readers.

I know ahead of time, I may already get a lot of flames for writing another OC story - it's terribly cliché, I know. I've tried to avoid being Mary Sue-ish with it, but I know the criticism will come. So, I'm prepared for it. I won't cry. Or I'll try not to. I also know the first few chapters which encompass the Marauders' first few years at Hogwarts, are a bit choppy, so apologies for that. It does get better.

This story is rated T, but depending on how attached I am to a couple scenes and battles further along in the story, it may go up to M. But as of first publication, it is rated T, so for the most part, everything will hover at or around that rating level.

And the final part of this introduction, the disclaimer: none of the things that appear in this story would be possible if not for the genius of J.K. Rowling, who, if I may inject my opinion here is ten thousand times the writer Stephenie Meyer of Twilight stardom will ever be. Sorry to any Twi-hards who may have wandered into the fandom! In any chase, only Davina Maddux, or Davie as she is often referred to in the story, was created by myself. Also, the reference in the subtitle of the poem is to a poem by William Wordsworth. The subtitle was actually not present when I first posted this story, in case you were wondering, but I added it around the publishing of chapter four because it was appropriate, and being familiar with the poem will give you a slight hint as to how the end of the story goes. So now, without further ado…

Chapter One

September the First, Nineteen-Seventy

"And for Merlin's sake, watch the sort you associate with, Sirius!" Walburga Black said, tugging her eleven-year-old son sharply by the arm as he restlessly struggled to simply get away and get onto the Hogwarts Express. His younger brother, Regulus, looked on with glee as his older brother was being reprimanded.

"Mum!" he snapped, finally managing to get free of his mother's grasp. "Leave me alone!" He ran onto the first compartment he could find, which already played host to a few students who looked approximately his age. "Oy there," he said, scratching the back of his neck and dropping his things. "Sorry - I'm Sirius Black - would you mind if I -"

"Yes, I mind," said a boy with large glasses over his mischievously glittering eyes. Sirius blinked at him.

"Come again?" he asked incredulously.

"Only joking," he smirked. "James Potter. This is Remus Lupin, our parents work at the Ministry together," he said, gesturing at the boy next to him with flecked brown hair. "And Peter - ah, didn't catch your last name," he said honestly.

"P-p-pettigrew," the chubby boy stammered. Sirius held back a chuckle at him. Meanwhile, another boy stalked into their compartment, this one looking terribly brooding and, in Sirius' opinion, terribly greasy.

"And who are you?" James asked. The boy looked up shiftily as though he hadn't even expected to be acknowledged.

"Severus Snape," he said, his voice, even at this young age, matching the greasiness of his hair.

"'S a bit of a mouthful," Sirius chuckled before he could help himself, and the greasy-haired, pointy-nosed boy immediately glared at him. "Just being honest. Anyway - Potter, was it? First Year? Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

"Gryffindor," James smirked, puffing himself up proudly, "where dwell the brave of heart. Just like my dad."

Severus Snape gave a derisive snort, and James wheeled on him immediately.

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"No," Snape said dismissively. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy."

"Well, who asked you?" James snapped. Snape merely turned on his heel and strode into a different compartment, mumbling about 'self-absorbed gits' and that he 'ought to have guessed.'

"What a wonderful boy. Ray of sunshine, he was," Sirius laughed. "I think he and I are going to best friends, that one!"

"What's that sticking out of your pocket?" James asked curiously when Sirius moved his arm and revealed something wrapped in colored cardboard wrapping. "Is that a Dungbomb?"

"It sure is."

"Davina, dear, now are you absolutely sure you've brought everything?" Celesta Maddux asked, tugging her only daughter back to her even though she was itching to get onto the train. Davina Maddux was a tiny thing with large brown eyes that looked a bit oversized on her small face, and long dark hair that she wore in pigtails nearly down to her waist.

"Yes, mum," she lisped slightly, tugging away restlessly. "Everything, mum, can I go now? Please, mum -"

"Oh, all right," the woman said dotingly, eyeing her daughter as though she were going off on a long, dangerous journey somewhere. "Have a good time at Hogwarts! Remember, write home as often as you can -"

"I know -"

"And concentrate on your studies! You can't let your mind wander like you do with your tutor -"

"I know -"

"And respect your teachers! Merlin knows they'll be frustrating, I remember how that is, but you need to -"

"Mum, please!" Davie whined. "The train's going to leave with out me, Mum, and then you'll have exactly what you want, I'll never leave the house!"

Celesta laughed, tearfully placing a kiss on her only child's forehead before pushing her gently towards the train. "Oh, all right," she said with a watery smile, though any mother knows that if they could simply keep their babies home forever, they would. "Your father will send you some sweets when you -"

"Honestly, mum, they're going to feed me!" Davie laughed, tugging her bags onto the train with some trouble. "I'm going to miss you too…"

She gave her mother a small wave goodbye then turned around before her mother could see that she had started to tear up a little bit too. Puttering down the train, she looked passed compartment after compartment, with no luck finding anywhere to sit. Everyone seemed to know someone already except for tiny, overprotected Davie Maddux.

"Oh dear," came a female voice a few doors down. Davie looked up and saw a girl standing in the hallway, looking into a compartment. She had very pretty, almond-shaped green eyes, and kempt auburn hair that gave Davie an immediately twinge of jealousy. Curious what she was so perturbed about, Davie left her luggage behind and walked over towards the girl, but after walking a few steps, she pinched her nose, shaking her head.

"Yuck!" Davie exclaimed. "Dungbomb. It looks like someone's been to Zonko's over the summer."

"Come again?" the red-headed girl asked, looking at Davie as though she were speaking some sort of foreign language.

"Err," Davie said, unsure of what to say. "Are you - err- where are you from?"

"Spinner's End."

"Come again?" Davie asked, now the one looking a bit confused. "I'm Davie Maddux," she added, still pinching her nose.

"Lily Evans," the red-headed girl said politely, wrinkling her nose as well. She glanced back the compartment that was emitting the terrible stink, and Davie then noticed it was covered in dirty streaks. This was definitely the work of a Dungbomb. "I - I think my friend might be in there," Lily said carefully. Davie pursed her lips and pulled out her wand.

"D'you think we should try a spell?" Davie asked. "I practiced a couple with my tutor. Eva-evanesco!" she said with a clumsy flourish, but due to either her lisp or her hesitant stammer, the spell managed to rid the compartment of the stains, but replaced them with two or three large sopping puddles. With the glass of the windows now clean, a greasy-haired boy glanced out with a sour expression on his face.

"Severus, there you are!" Lily said entering the compartment. Davie puttered along behind. "I thought we were going to meet - I don't know anyone here -"

"Excuse me," Severus said, looking quite embarrassed indeed as he left the compartment, slightly wet and a bit dirty from the previously offending Dungbomb. Lily stared after him, looking a bit puzzled.

"So you don't know what Zonko's is?" Davie asked, unfazed. Lily shook her head.

"My parents are - what do you call them again? Oh, Severus told me this at least a dozen times. Muggles!" she said with a nod. "That's what it was."

"Oh!" Davie said in wide-eyed surprise. "I've never met a Muggleborn witch before!"

Lily turned slightly red. "Is there - is there something wrong with it?" she asked.

"No!" Davie said, holding up her hands - she certainly was not keen on scaring off the first possible friend she had run into. "There are some people who - well, you know. They're not too sure about Muggleborns. I've just never met one before you."

"So you'd like to be friends?" Lily asked brightly. Davie nodded with a smile. Making friends, it would seem, was far easier than it appeared.

Suffice it to say that as it was for every batch of First Years, the arrival at Hogwarts was - well, magical. Lily Evans quite nearly fainted when she saw the groundskeeper, Rubeus Hagrid, for the first time, and Peter Pettigrew quite nearly wet himself when James and Sirius informed him of the Giant Squid as they were crossing the lake. Davie, however, was most impressed with Professor McGonagall who met the students at the front door. The tiny girl was clearly intimidated, but her anxiety was slightly eased when the woman gave a curt smile.

The Sorting Ceremony went smoothly as ever, and each student seemed to be placed in their houses rather quickly. Davie gave a snort when a boy with the surname Black gave a surprised and elated whoop when he was sorted into Gryffindor. Lily was sorted into the same house, soon to be joined by Davie, but the red-headed girl gave a slightly disappointed sigh when her friend from the train was sorted into Slytherin.

In the coming weeks, Lily and Davie soon learned that they had quite a bit in common. Lily Evans very quickly established herself at the top of their class. Davie, by following her mother's advice and concentrating quite hard indeed, managed to land herself fairly close, though her interest in some subjects was limited and caused her to get distracted quite often. Lily proved to be a good friend, reminded her friend when she had overshot the requirement on her Transfiguration essays when she wasn't even nearly halfway done with Charms.

James, Sirius, Remus, and, surprisingly Peter Pettigrew meshed together quite nicely as a group and very quickly managed to charm many of the teachers. As a whole the First Year Gryffindors were seemingly well-liked, except by the Slytherins it would appear.

"Imagine," the girls overheard a Slytherin saying in the hallways outside of the Potions dungeon. "A Mudblood witch at the top of our class. My mother might just die if she heard -"

Lily froze - she knew well enough what the term Mudblood meant. She grabbed Davie by the sleeve of her robes, tugging her into an alcove behind a suit of armor.

"Why do all of them hate me here?" Lily asked worriedly. She'd heard from Severus that there were some who weren't appreciative of the presence of Muggleborns in their school, but she had never expected it to be so bad. "Do you know, Davie? Tell me. I won't interrupt."

"Well," Davie said hesitantly, rubbing the back of her neck hesitantly. She really oughtn't have said anything about what she knew. She only knew things because her parents were Aurors in the Ministry, and often discussed work while they believed Davie to be asleep. "I don't think they've always been this bad but - my father mentioned this cult forming. A man - I can't remember what my father said his name was,' Davie mentioned, struggling to remember. "But they all think it's temporary. Things like this happen time and again."

"But," Lily asked quietly. "Whoever this is - he could come after all of the Muggleborns, and -"

"No! He wouldn't ever," Davie said resolutely. "Not with Professor Dumbledore here. He's the most powerful wizard in the world. But - I don't really know anything," Davie said, only wishing she hadn't said a word. "The only one who really knows would be the sort you, well…the sort you wouldn't want to talk to."

Fortunately, however, the first few months of the school term passed without any incident to mention for the girls - but four Gryffindor boys in particular were managing to run into more than their fair share of incidents. The last day of class before Christmas holidays, no Professor seemed to be spared from their celebratory barrage of Dungbombs and Filibuster's Fireworks.

The final class of the year, Potions, was planned to be the best prank yet - Lily and Davie were already wary of how many points their house would lose because of the boys this time. Davie had half the mind to stop them, but the worst thing about the boys was that they were terribly unpredictable, and terribly sneaky. While Davie was still thinking hard on what she was doing wrong with her Pepper-Up Potion, there was a loud crack, and an explosion in the cauldron of a nearby Slytherin girl.

Now, however, Davie saw her opening. Glancing at Lily, Davie gave an impish grin after she spotted another unused firework sticking out of Sirius Black's pocket. She pointed her wand at it and muttered a spell - it exploded immediately, and he gave a loud yell, jumping higher than normally possible then landing on his back on the floor. He glanced around conspiratorially, then pointed a finger immediately at Severus Snape.

"It was him!"

"Wrong, you git," Davie snickered from the back of the room. Sirius wheeled around, glaring at the girl angrily. Professor Slughorn, meanwhile, puttered over and wagged his finger at Sirius.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Black," he said, clicking his tongue. "Terrible thing to do my boy - and Miss Maddux," Slughorn then turned on the girl, who flinched, prepared to lose house points as well. "You would do well to be more like your friend Miss Evans and stay out of trouble."

"Yes, Professor," she nodded, batting her large eyes dolefully. "I - I don't know what on earth got into me."

After class, Sirius stormed up to her, yanking her by the sleeve of her robes and turning her around to face him. "So," he said in annoyance. "You fancy being the avenger of the slimy Slytherins, do you? You could have blown my backside off!"

"I think I already did," Davie laughed, glancing at hole in the side of Sirius' robes where his pocket had been. Lily only half-heartedly tried to chide her friend for getting into a confrontation with him, rolling her eyes as James Potter flashed her a smile.

Needless to say, the Christmas Holidays were a much-needed break - if Lily and Davie had to be anywhere near James and Sirius a moment longer, they may very well have snapped. But after a good while of time away, things continued much as they normally would.

The second of half of the school term, the Professors piled what the students felt were miles and miles of essays to make sure all of the material was covered in time for end-of-year exams. By the middle of May, a single day's worth of homework seemed to take all night.

In Transfiguration, they were supposed to be able to turn a rabbit into a functional pair of earmuffs, but most of the class was only able to turn a bumblebee into a glass bead. McGonagall was often caught wincing at many failed attempts, which were halfway between animals and object. Davie's earmuffs still wiggled when she put them on her head, and Peter Pettrigrew's still had hind legs with which to kick him.

In History of Magic, Professor Binns often overlooked the fact that his students were sleeping - he actually seemed to overlook the fact that they were even there at all. It seemed that he was always speaking to himself. He'd often walk right through a sleeping student, who would immediately wake up with a start.

It was no surprise that the first years were growing more and more anxious of how difficult their first Hogwarts exams would be, if the preparation was this rigorous. Lily had managed to goad Davie into compiling and reviewing all of their essays, despite Davie's obvious reluctance. They were sitting in the common room quizzing one another on the numerous uses of dragon's blood, when the boys tromped casually over.

"How much for your help?" Sirius asked causally, leaning on the table between the two girls, holding out a scroll that was n doubt one of his essays. Lily glanced at Davie, who looked quite skeptical.

"Not for sale," Lily said righteously. "You lot can do your own homework."

"Oh, come on, we're just asking you to have a look!" James said in exasperation.

"Then you can ask Remus," Davie said matter-of-factly.

"W-we would," Peter stammered. "But he's - he's v-visiting his Gram, she's ill."

"Again?" Davie asked, raising an eyebrow. "She's sick rather often - every few weeks this year, I think it's been. I'm surprised the woman hasn't kicked the bucket -"

"Davie," Lily chided, "That's terrible to say!"

"C'mon ladies," Sirius said, crossing his arms. "Binns is going to fail us, we've already been docked for sleeping in class."

Lily, however, had clearly had enough; she picked up her things and gestured for Davie to do the same. "The nerve!" she huffed as they made their way back up to the dormitories; a couple older Gryffindor girls quickly became the boys' new targets, and by the sounds of it, they were just as quick to oblige. "They were expecting us to help them when they're ones who've been sleeping in class!"

"Oh, Lily," Davie said, rifling through her bag and trying to keep her papers from getting mussed. "Are you trying to say that you've never dozed off on Binns' class? Not even once?"

Lily turned her nose up primly, not saying a word.