Summary (may be subject to change): Hogwarts has always been interesting, but with the Marauders on their final year, laughs, screams, and pranks are sure to be seen. Through it all, people grow and learn, making mistakes all the while. But just because it's a mistake doesn't mean it's unfixable.

Author's Note: I am a young writer hoping to get better, so any and all constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated. Thanks ~

Dedication: I've never done this before (dedications) but it seems only fair because this story wouldn't exist without this person. Evermore-kisses is the most amazing author, and although I've failed at her writing style, this story is still written for her. So thank you. ~~ Side note ~~ I wrote that about a year ago, and though we've since lost touch, she still remains one of the most incredible writers on this site. For anyone with some spare time, read her stuff, it's brilliant!

Creative Note: Knowing the Marauders, they always have crazy schemes in mind and in action. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them, because I'm not as creative as I'd like to be when I come up with my own ideas.

1

Lily Evans wasn't one of those people that just got up and sprung out of bed in the morning, perky and ready to face the bright sunshine. In fact, she highly despised those people, secretly wondering what was wrong with them, wondering how in the world they could function correctly so soon after waking up. For her, getting up took a slow rise to consciousness before opening her eyes slowly. Sometimes – like today – she still wasn't in the mood to get out of her warm bed and into the cold London air, so she just rolled over onto her side and snuggled a little more into the pillow that her mother had given her for her birthday – old fashioned goose down that took away all of her neck aches from crouching over heavy textbooks. The sun was already shining through her window, landing on her bed and warming her pleasantly, telling her falsely that if she got out of her warm covers, it wouldn't be ridiculously cold.

As if.

She rolled over from her side to her stomach, burrowing her nose into her pillow, relishing the morning as her last day before school starts. School. Hogwarts: her favorite place on earth. School…

Suddenly, everything rushed back to her sleep-addled brain. She was off by one day; today was the day that school started, and with all the usual Lily Evans luck, she was already starting it off late. Mimicking those 'rise and shine' people that she mocked so often, she sprung out of bed, trying to blink the sleep out of her eyes while rubbing her now-freezing arms. Oh the stupid false hope of a warm ray of sunshine, one that she had densely believed in despite it all. It was so cold that she was about to get back into her warm, inviting bed, already having forgotten why she sprung up like a maniac in the first place, when her eyes landed on the clothes she'd set out yesterday night.

How could she have forgotten!

Rushing now, knowing that she was 'oh so late' as her best friends liked to say, Lily threw on the clothes that were lying there neatly on the floor next to her bed. They were simple Muggle clothes, just some denim jeans, a v-neck shirt and a cardigan, but she warmed almost instantly. Compared to her thin sleeping pants and long sleeved cotton shirt, these seemed like heavy winter clothes, and with the morning chill, it felt even better than the warm blanket she'd just abandoned. Good thing she has set them out yesterday night, because she was barley seeing them right now, trusting her I've-been-up-all-day-and-I'm-tired brain more than her I-just-woke-up-and-what-the-heck-is-going-on brain.

It really figures though. The first day of the best year of her life and she was late.

Typical.

A couple rooms over, in the kitchen, Lily could hear Petunia complaining loudly to their mother, "But Lily can… I'm older!… Not fair…"

Even half-asleep, Lily could tell that her twin was talking about Vernon Dursley's upcoming trip to America. She'd been begging to go ever since she found out about it two weeks ago, and the great pig seemed interested in her coming as well. Lily had never – and thought she would never – understood that couple, both from the fact that Petunia was bone thin and annoying and from the fact that Vernon was big, beefy and smelly. How Petunia could stand him, much less want to be near him, was beyond Lily.

Putting Petunia out of her mind, Lily gathered up her things. Her trunk was in the corner of her bare room, looking cumbersome and menacingly heavy. The one thing Muggle's had ever gotten right was their convenient baggage, with their little handles and wheels. Everything about them screamed practical and smart, so much better than the horrible boxy wizard trunks. But the trunks were better inside Hogwarts itself. Lily and many of her friends kept them open at the foot of their beds, a place for knickknacks other than armoires and bed-side-tables, which was the only thing keeping Lily from marching into Petunia's room and taking the large wheeled bag she had under the bed.

On top of her trunk was her owl, a saw-whet owl that was one of the smallest she'd ever seen at Hogwarts. His name was Boxer, and he was more of a pet then a mail-carrier. His small body with tufted with brown-and-white feathers and rather large yellow eyes made him very distinguishable from the now-fashionable regal, white-faced barn owls, and although his size made carrying large packages troubling, Lily loved the little furry thing.

"Ready Boxer?" she asked before picking his box up gently. His hoot sounded more like a low whistle, and he ruffled his feathers as if to show anticipation. She'd never tell anyone – people already thought she was crazy enough as it was – but there were several times that Lily was sure that he understood her and responded accordingly. As it was now, he just blinked quickly and tilted his head down to the trunk below his cage.

Even though she'd turned seventeen – the legal age to do magic without supervision – in March, she still wasn't used to it, probably because, for most of the time since then, she'd been in school – the one place where it was legal. And after that, she'd spent the whole summer locked up in an apartment with neighbors pressing in on all sides, too close to do something without them noticing. Now that it was almost over though, she was more than ready to levitate the bulky thing straight to the front door – and further if she could.

"Morning Mum!" she shouted after depositing the trunk by the doorway, ignoring how Petunia glared at her when she brought Boxer – in his cage to make her twin happy – into the kitchen, "Morning 'Tuney." Lily said in a lower volume. These days, Petunia exploded at anything Lily said – or even did – and yelling at her so early in the morning would definitely not be received well. As twins, they didn't have much in common, and their biggest tying-factor was probably their joint hatred for any time before 10.

"It's Petunia." Her sister said, but Lily was past listening, humming while passing some jam on her toast, half of which she fed to Boxer.

"Really Lily!" Petunia said, in a way that Lily could practically see the disapproving glare, even with her back to her, "It's an owl, not a dog." Petunia didn't hate owls. Actually, Lily clearly remembered her being excited when Lily first got Boxer – a present to start her second year. Now though, anything to do with Lily was frowned upon by her slightly older sister. Really, if Petunia's superior glares were any indication of how much older she was, people would think there was a separation of years, not the mere two minutes that made her 'older'.

As she often did, Lily simply ignored her sister and kept feeding Boxer. When he was finished and full – she could tell by the way he blinked his eyes rapidly and shrunk his neck into his shoulders – Lily sat back against the kitchen counter and finished the bread. She didn't have anything other than the half that was left and the orange juice her mother had poured for her when she walked in, saving space for Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, the Honeydukes chocolate that they'd started serving last year, and Lily's personal favorite, Chocolate Frogs.

"Are you ready to go Lily dear?" her mother said, glancing at her watch slightly before smiling warmly at her younger daughter. Lily didn't know why, but she and her mother had grown apart in the last couple of years. It wasn't that they fought and disliked each other, but Lily's year at Hogwarts and head full of magic acted as barriers. More often than not, Lily realized that she'd avoided spending time with her mother, instead going up to her room to look at her new Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook or that really cool Quidditch book that someone had slipped into her trunk of the last day of term last year. Thinking again about her mother, Lily realized that she'd never really put an effort in. Maybe, after Hogwarts, there would be some time to fix that…

"Bye 'Tuney" she said, smirking slightly at the aggravated sound that came from Petunia's throat before following her mother out into the car. A quick glance at the windows showed that no one was looking and – feeling more than slightly reckless – Lily quickly levitated her trunk into the back of their dark blue station-wagon. Doing this left her heart beating quicker than normal and some odd feeling rushing through her body. Being Hogwarts' known goody-two-shoes, Lily had never felt anything like this, but now that she had, she'd been left wanting more. But there was nothing else to put into the car so, holding on tightly to Boxer, she slipped into the car next to her mother.

Living in London had its perks, and being five minutes away from King's Cross station was definitely one of them. If they had lived anywhere else, Lily would have missed the train, which would result in her having to send a letter to Hogwarts asking for permission to use floo powder to travel to school, considering how, even though she could Apparate, she wouldn't be able to take Boxer with her, much less her heavy trunk. During her first day as Head Girl, Lily knew that would definitely not settle well with McGonagall, who already didn't like her because of several… incidents in Transfiguration class. None of them had been her fault, and Professor McGonagall wasn't under the impression that it was, but she still held a slight dislike for Lily because she considered Lily an 'unnecessary distraction' when it came to certain students.

Not that it mattered though, because her mother was already pulling into the familiar station, rushing to get a trolley as Lily walked to the trunk of the car, groaning as she realized that she'd have to lift the trunk by hand. Adrenalin – as she realized what the feeling was – or not, there were too many people here to try any magic.

Once they got to the now-familiar barrier between platforms nine and ten, Lily's mother gave her a kiss on the cheek and a long hug. Her mother never followed her though the barrier, some Muggle fear keeping her away from the seemingly-solid brick wall. Normally, Lily would be pulling away quickly and rushing through the barrier, but instead, she hugged back, all the while thinking, 'I'll make it up to you someday. We'll be friends again.'

But she didn't say that, instead settling for a simple "Bye Mum," before stepping into the barrier confidently, Boxer ruffling his feathers in his cage on top of her trunk.