Title: Fights
Genre: Friendship/ Hurt/Comfort / Romance
Pairings: James/Lily, Lily/Marauders friendship
Word Count:5946 words
Summary: The four times Lily finds a Marauder after a fight and the one time they find her.

1.

"Pettigrew?"

A gentle voice startled him out of his thoughts and Peter found himself wishing he had James' Invisibility Cloak so he would just disappear, in Evans' eyes at least. He ignored her as he stared out into the lake, hoping that if he said nothing to her, she would just disappear. Sirius always said that Evans was a pain in the butt.

Ignoring her seemed to have the opposite effect though as she plopped herself beside him.

"You know, your friends are really worried about you," she said and Peter resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

She didn't have to lie to him. Peter knew they were probably all relieved that he was finally away from them. As stupid as people thought him to be, including the three boys he had thought to be his friends, he knew people considered him to be their servants. After all, he wasn't funny like James, handsome like Sirius or smart like Remus. He was Peter, the below average student whose only reason for passing his lessons was his friends. Or rather, former friends.

"Black just bumped into me a few minutes ago," Evans continued, unabashed by his hostile attitude. The Fourth Year student gave her classmate a small smile. "He was acting like a worried mother who just lost her child before asking me if I'd seen you."

He turned to face her, hating himself for letting the tears come into his eyes. Peter watched as Evans looked away, and he was grateful that she did.

"What did you say?" he asked timidly as he wiped away his tears. Evans looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"The obvious, of course!" she said in that know-it-all voice that Sirius and James often mocked. "That if he didn't know where you were, then how in Merlin's pants was I supposed to?"

He chuckled humourlessly, plucking out the grass around him as she continued on talking. "I mean, honestly, the four of you are never apart, are you? And you're like the little brother in the group so I was a little bit surprised when Black told me you'd stormed out of the Common Room. Want to tell me what that was about?"

"Wouldn't matter, would it?" Peter bitterly responded as he looked away from Evans' raised eyebrows. "I don't matter to anyone except my mother."

"I highly doubt that," Evans crossed her arms across her chest and Peter rolled his eyes.

"Of course you doubt me," he spat. "I'm Peter. I'm the dumb Marauder, the one who trails behind James and Sirius like a lost puppy and the one who Remus is always stuck with. Well, you don't have to point that one out, Evans, because James made it pretty clear."

"What did Potter do?" Evans gave him a sympathetic smile and Peter felt himself relaxing. If anybody knew how much of a pain James could be, it was their redheaded classmate who James annoyed to no end. "If it means anything to you, Pettigrew, I'm sure that Potter is very sorry for whatever he did."

"You don't know anything, Evans," Peter sighed and cowered a little when Evans gave him a condescending look, one so similar to McGonagal's that he found himself fighting a shudder.

"Alright Pettigrew, here's what's happening," she looked at him sternly, giving him the look that told him if he even bothered to tune her out for a second, she would cast a spell to make his ears bigger or something. "Potter, Black, and even Remus, are causing chaos in the school because they cannot find you. It's disturbing all of us. Potter's been in the library three times because he's convinced that that's the last place you'd think they'd look at. Your friends are crazy, Pettigrew."

"They're really looking for me?" he asked timidly, not daring to believe her despite the hope that was welling up in him. Evans gave him a pointed look.

"Haven't rested since you stormed out of the Common Room after Potter shouted at you," Evans smiled at him. "You're lucky, Pettigrew. As idiotic as you Marauders are, you do care about each other."

"People think I'm just a tag along," he dejectedly slouched. Beside him, Evans loudly sighed.

"We really need to transfer at least half of Potter's ego to you," she said as she got up. She held out a hand for him, sighing even louder when he just stared at her. "I used to think that too, you know? But then I realised that you're the younger brother of the group, Pettigrew. Potter and Black got into a fight with a group of Seventh Year Slytherins because they were picking on you and Remus talked back to Slughorn, a teacher, when he implied that you weren't as clever as your friends."

Peter smiled at the memory of that day, remembering the way James and Sirius had announced proudly that Remus finally was a true Marauder. Peter remembered the shocked look on Slughorn and every other student's face when Remus had raised his voice at the Potions teacher. He remembered Remus telling Evans that Peter was one of his friends and that he would not stand by and let a teacher who played favourites tell everyone that Peter was dumb when he was not.

Peter took her hand then, smiling through his tears as he looked at her. He chuckled when Evans shifted uncomfortably for the first time under his scrutiny. For the first time since he met Lily Evans, Peter Pettigrew was starting to see why James had a crush on her (even if his best friend would not admit it yet).

That night, as the remaining Marauders gathered around Pettigrew, Lily could not help but let a small smile grace her pretty face. As Potter apologized for being an arse (his words, not hers) and Black and Remus pushed food into Pettigrew's hands since he had missed dinner, Lily knew that she had done the right thing by following Pettigrew that evening. She never did understand why she followed an upset Marauder (maybe it was the stress of the upcoming exams or the increasing number of fights she and Severus had gotten into) but she was glad she did.

Because as much as they annoyed her, the Marauders were still the tightest group of friends she knew. And even if she would rather eat slugs than admit it, she admired their friendship and the way they were always there for each other. So, maybe she went after Pettigrew because she did not want the one friendship she currently only believed in to fall apart.

2.

"You could have killed him, Sirius!" James spat at him, disgust at what his friend had done so visible in his eyes. "Your actions tonight not only brought danger to Snape, it brought danger to Remus. Because of you, Snape knows! What do you think would have happened to Remus if he had bitten Snape? You know the Ministry does not tolerate werewolves!"

"James, please," Sirius begged, his eyes clouding with tears as his best friend looked away. "I wasn't thinking and –"

"Exactly! You were not thinking!" James ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He looked away from the crumpled figure of his best friend, knowing that if he looked at Sirius for just a moment, his resolve would crumble. No, Sirius had gone too far this time, had crossed the line and it would be a long time before Remus, before James, forgave him. "I can't even look at you right now."

"James," Sirius' voice was soft, almost a whisper and James whirled around to glare at him. His heart broke at the sight of Sirius on the floor, looking at him through pleading eyes. He shook his head at his friend.

"You're going to apologize to Remus tomorrow," James said, his voice low. "And if he wants you out of his life, which I honestly don't blame him for right now, then you're going to stay out. Remus doesn't need a traitor for a friend."

He hated himself for saying those words, words that seemed to be killing Sirius, but James found that he could no longer stop himself. He was too angry, too betrayed, to even think of how his words would affect Sirius in the near future. Before he could say anything that would further hurt the broken boy in their dorm room, James grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked, his voice strained and once again, it was his eyes, filled with such despair and sorrow, that almost had James crumbling. Instead, James gave him a stony look.

"Away from you."

It had been three weeks since the Incident and James watched from across the table as Sirius pretended to be doing his work. When the Gryffindor raised his eyes to look at James, pleading for him to be forgiven, James looked away. Almost immediately though, he groaned when a hand hit him on the back of his head. Annoyed green eyes glared at him as their owner settled herself beside him.

"What in the world was that for, Evans?" he whined as he rubbed the spot she had hit.

"It's been three bloody weeks, Potter," Evans rolled her eyes as she unscrewed the cap of her ink bottle. "Even Remus and Pettigrew have forgiven him for whatever he did."

True enough, just as she uttered those words, Remus sat beside Sirius, a comforting hand on the shoulder as he gave Sirius a sympathetic smile. On Sirius' other side, Peter was staring at James, his eyes wide as he pouted at his friend to forgive Sirius.

Remus had forgiven Sirius a week ago, and Peter had followed his lead almost immediately. James knew that both his friends were suffering because of the tensions between him and Sirius and he honestly wanted to end it. After all, what right did he have to be angry when Remus was not any longer?

But try as he might, he still found himself angry. He was still angry at Snape for being such a pain in the butt, angry at Sirius for being so careless and most of all, angry at himself for saying what he had to his best friend. He missed Sirius, of course, but at the end of the day, he could not help but think about how he must have hurt his best friend.

"You know, considering this would have affected Remus more with his 'furry little problem', I think that it is about time you and Black kissed and made up," Evans smirked when he glared at her before comprehension dawned onto him. Slowly, his mouth fell open as shock consumed him while Evans squirmed in her seat. "What?"

"You- you," he stuttered and choked when she raised her eyes at her. "You know about Remus?"

"I may have known since our third year," she admitted as she shrugged. When he just continued staring at her, she hit him on the head again as she chuckled. "What?"

"And it doesn't bother you that he's, as Snivellus so kindly put it, dangerous?" James spat.

Evans stiffened at the mention of her former best friend, glaring at him as hurt clouded her eyes. "He's dangerous once a month, Potter. He cannot help who he is."

Admiration for the beautiful redhead consumed him and not for the first time, he found himself regretting the years they wasted fighting when they could have been good friends.

"You really are something, aren't you, Evans?"

A year ago, he would have teased her for the red tinge currently spreading through his cheeks. Now though, he kept the mental dance in his head, and pretended to ignore it. James smiled at her instead.

"I've never seen him so quiet before, you know," her voice was gentle as she took his hand. James ignored the way his heart had started racing at her touch. "He's almost nothing without you, James. And you're almost nothing without him."

"Evans – "

"Just listen, please," she waited for him to nod and then continued, "I lost my best friend because he was starting to become someone sinister. Black, as irritating as he is, is anything but that, Potter. He made a stupid mistake. Yes, it was a huge one but he's sorry for it. He's sorry for putting Severus in danger, for putting Remus' life in jeopardy and for violating your trust. And you not talking to him, not forgiving him when everyone else has, is what is killing him."

"Since when have you cared about Sirius, Evans?"

"Since he came to me a day after what happened, asking that I bring him to Severus so he could apologise," Evans shrugged. James' breath hitched at that revelation and he looked at Evans for any sign of her lying. He found none. For the first time in a while, he looked at Sirius, really looked at him, and saw the shell of a broken boy. He'd been so consumed with rage, so consumed at what he thought to be betrayal, that he hadn't stop to think of how he had betrayed Sirius. He'd left, given up on him the way Sirius' family had, and James would never forgive himself for that.

Evans gave him a sweet smile, jerking her head towards his friends as she did so. "Well, go on, then."

"Thanks, Evans," he smiled at her and kissed her cheek, walking away before she could say anything else and missing the way she had stilled the moment his lips had brushed her skin.

Lily raised her hand to her cheeks as she watched James advance towards his group of friends. She could feel the heat clouding her cheeks again. A year ago, she would have slapped him hard but things had changed since then. She'd noticed the changes in Potter, how he was more mature, and she'd found herself liking Potter even more each day. And with Potter, came his group of friends.

Tears moistened her eyes when Black launched himself at Potter, the latter hugging his best friend back just as tightly. From the sidelines, Remus and Pettigrew were laughing and sighing in relief and Black had raised his head whilst he was still hugging James, mouthing his thanks at her. Lily gave him a nod. She had meant what she had said. She had started caring for Black and even to a certain extent, Pettigrew. She'd cared for Remus a long time ago, having been friends with him the longest. And Potter, well, he was nothing without his friends so yes, she cared for him too.

Even if caring for them meant saving their butts from McGonagal when the two idiots decided that a reunion prank was necessary and they turned everyone at the Slytherin table green and scaly.

3.

Sirius stared at the teenager in front of him, cursing the two Slytherins who were pinning him against the wall, and daring the teenager to attack him. It was dishonourable, even for a Slytherin, to attack a wandless wizard. Even if the said wandless wizard was the brother who had ran away from home a few months ago.

He watched as Regulus' hand shook as he glared at him. Sirius tried to quench the pang of sorrow that hit him when he saw how his baby brother's eyes were so full of hate. Hate for the brother that was never there for him, for the brother that abandoned him for his friends in school and for the brother that left him forever.

But Sirius knew his brother, could also see the plea in his eyes. And in a weird, twisted way, he understood. If Regulus did not hex him, did not prove where his loyalties lay, he would never survive in Slytherin again.

"We're getting old here, Black," the Slytherin on his right, Zabini, drawled and Sirius knew what he had to do. He nodded at his brother, silently conveying that he understood.

"Hmm, not a bad idea," a familiar voice growled and as a cloud of smoke engulfed all of them, Sirius felt the tinge of a protection charm around him and grinned when he felt the two Slytherins being pushed away forcefully. He grinned at his best friend when James covered him in his Invisibility Cloak, frowning when Remus glared at him.

When they were finally far enough, James ripped the Cloak off them and the three boys stopped, panting as they tried catching their breath. Sirius was not prepared for the shove Remus inflicted, and fell to the ground, staring at one of his best friends in shock.

"Moony!" James helped Sirius to his feet, confused at the way his friend was acting. "What was that for?"

The werewolf ignored him, addressed Sirius instead, "Next time you think about playing hero, try to remember that heroes are not idiots."

"Moony, if he had let me go, he would have suffered and –"

"Then let him suffer, Sirius!"

"He's my brother!" Sirius roared and James stepped between his two arguing mates, knowing that if he let them get any closer together, things would get ugly.

"No, we are," Remus thundered. "He was about to attack you! Brothers do not do that!"

Sirius slumped, Remus' words piercing him. He could not deny that those words were true but he also could not deny that he felt as though he was at fault. If he'd spent more time trying to reach out to Regulus, had formed a closer bond with his brother so that the younger Black would have been closer to him and not his dreadful mother, then maybe Regulus would not have mixed around with potential Death Eaters.

He felt a hand rest comfortingly on his shoulder and found himself looking at Remus and James. Remus' previously angry features had softened and he was looking at him in sympathy. James gave him a small, comforting smile.

"It's not your fault, Padfoot," the black-haired Head Boy said and Sirius shook his head. Neither his friends had brothers and neither of them would ever understand. He was alone in his predicament.

"Yes, it is," he walked away from them then, knowing that they knew that he wanted, needed, to be alone.

"Thought I might find you down here," her kind voice startled him and he dropped the chicken pie he was about to gobble. Lily looked around the kitchen, frowning when she realised that they were completely alone. "Where are the elves?"

"Told them I needed some time alone," Sirius shrugged and handed her a cupcake. "Elves can be surprisingly understanding."

"So I see," Lily smiled.

They sat in comfortable silence then, Lily munching on her chocolate cupcake and Sirius putting in anything that would fit into his mouth. He knew that she was worried about him, she was tapping her feet and she kept running her hands through her hair, an action she had picked up from James when she was nervous about asking something.

"James sent you here, didn't he?" he asked her, his eyebrows raised as he looked at her. Surprised when she shook her head, Sirius continued looking at her, knowing that she would get uncomfortable under his intense gaze. After all, this was the girl he had come to love as a sister ever since she started being friends with James the year before.

"He thinks you need time alone," the Head Girl admitted and Sirius chuckled at the way she shuffled her feet. "I think you need to be knocked on the head."

"Remus told you what happened then?"

"He did," Lily confirmed and Sirius sighed, not at all annoyed. A year ago, he would have minded that Lily Evans knew something so personal about him. But she was now one of his most trusted friends, one of the most sincere individuals he knew, and he instead felt grateful that she knew because if anybody could really understand how he felt, it was Lily. They had both lost their siblings to magic, and though their situations were different, the two of them had found that they clicked well because of that connection.

"Petunia's stopped talking to me completely now," the redhead revealed as she gave him a sad smile. "Even in front of Mom and Dad."

"I'm sorry, Lils," he put his arms around her and she shrugged. "If it makes you feel better, my brother tried to hex me today."

Lily rolled her eyes at his stupidity. "No, that does not make me feel better, Sirius. But I guess that just means we're in the same boat, doesn't it? You're not alone."

That was all she had to say before he told her everything. He told her about how he was the first one to witness Regulus' first use of magic, how he had taken the blame for a prank Regulus had played at a party when he was ten and how he had hoped and prayed that his brother would end up in Gryffindor. He was grateful when she pretended not to see how wet his eyes became when he admitted that he wanted to save his brother but knew he couldn't and that was why he had cut ties with Regulus along with his crazy family.

She told him about how Petunia and her used to be the best of friends, of how they once completed each other's sentences and how they used to promise to always be there for each other. He could see the hurt in her eyes when she told him about Petunia's hatred for her after she discovered Lily was a witch and she wasn't. Not for the first time, Sirius wanted nothing more than to confront Petunia for causing such hurt to the girl he now considered his little sister.

"They don't understand, do they?" Sirius asked and Lily looked at him questioningly. "James, Remus and even Peter. They don't have siblings. The don't know what it's like to have a brother or a sister and then lose them."

"You're wrong, Sirius," Lily gave him a fond smile. "They do have brothers. And you're one of them. The four of you have each other and I don't think any of them want to know what it feels like to lose a brother. I think that's why Remus got so mad today."

She watched as realization hit him and Lily did a mental happy dance when she realised she had gotten through to him. The Marauders really were an odd group of friends. They knew that their friends meant the world to them, but they never really did grasp around the fact that they meant equally as much to their friends. The Marauders were best friends, brothers, a family.

And as Sirius got up and extended his hand to her, saying something about getting back to the rest of the family, Lily could not help but feel like the luckiest girl in the world. She may have lost a sister, but she had gained three brothers and a boyfriend. Her world was complete as long as they were there.

4.

"I told you this was dangerous, James! I should never have let you three –"

"Becoming Animagi was our choice to make, Remus, not yours."

"James is right, Moony. Besides, I am going to be fine!"

"And what if you're not the next time this happens, Padfoot? What if James had been too late?"

"Moony, I'm f – "

"Stop saying that! You're not fine! You have three broken bones and your face looks like a hippogriff just ran over you! Stop downplaying everything!"

"Moony, you have to calm down."

"No, I will not, James! This is all my fault! Sirius can barely move because of me. Lily won't talk to you because of me. All of this is happening because of this stupid problem of mine and all of you are either too blind or too stupid to see that I am nothing but a burden to you!"

Silence emerged between the three of them, Remus panting as sorrow masked his face and James and Sirius were staring at him, mouth agape at his outburst. It was James who recovered first.

"You're giving yourself too much credit, mate," James tried joking though his voice wavered. "Lily's mad at me because I was being a prick."

"This isn't a joke, James," Remus tiredly ran his hand across his hair. He turned to Sirius then, acknowledging his injured friend. "It's a few broken bones now. What if I break your neck the next time? I won't let that happen again."

"What are you saying, Moony?"

"I'm saying that your wandering days as Animagi with me when I'm dangerous end now," Remus said and put up his hand silence the protests from his friends. "And if you refuse, then our friendship is over."

He knew his words were harsh, that they had pierced through his friends and hurt them more than he thought they would. But they were words that needed to be said, words that needed to be heard if he wanted his friends to be safe and alive.

"Remus, you can't possibly be serious," James sputtered. "We're doing all this for you."

"You don't get it, do you, James? I don't want you to be doing all this for me," Remus dejectedly shook his head. He looked up when Sirius laughed.

"Well, too bad," Sirius smirked and Remus growled. Beside him, James grinned as he crossed his hands over his chest, already knowing that Remus was fighting a losing battle. "We want to."

"I mean it, Sirius," Remus resisted the urge to stomp his feet like a child who was not getting what he wanted. "Our friendship is over if you refuse."

"Oh, stop being so dramatic," Sirius rolled his eyes and made an attempt to sit up straight. He shot James a thankful smile when the jet black-haired boy helped him. "'Our friendship is over if you refuse?' What are we, eight? You're worth the trouble and risks, you idiot!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Padfoot," James grinned at the stunned look on Remus' face. "Fancy a game of Exploding Snap?"

"To watch you lose again? It would be a pleasure," Sirius smirked as the two ignored their friend.

Remus clenched his hands into fists as he kicked the chair and stomped out of the hospital wing, leaving behind his friends. Honestly, those two pratts were the most annoying friends a person could have. Deep in his thoughts, he failed to see both their smiles drop, the facade they had both shown ebbing away as his footsteps sounded softer and softer to their ears.

"Has anyone ever told you that for someone who's really smart, you're actually pretty dumb?" her teasing voice broke him out of his daydream and Remus looked up to find himself staring at a pair of green eyes. "It's been three days, Remus. They're miserable without you."

"It's better this way," he sighed. "They'll be safer."

"Remus, they're unstoppable pranksters. They're never safe!" Lily exclaimed and Remus fought the fond smile that was threatening to spread across his tired face. "You're the one that keeps them in line."

"I also put them in danger."

"Once a month," Lily rolled her eyes. "They're practically in danger the rest of the time, anyway."

"Lily –"

"Do you really think that little of them, Remus?" she asked, her face suddenly so stern and serious that he stopped whatever argument he was supposed to say. "Do you really think that just because you stop talking to them, they'll stop trying to protect you, their brother, during the full moon? Because if you do, then you don't deserve them."

"They're safer –"

"You're saying this after seven years?" Lily chuckled and Remus looked down in shame, red spreading through his cheeks. "It's a little too late now, isn't it? They could have ran during those years but they chose to stick by you. That does mean something, doesn't it?"

Her words reached him, touched him, and struck him to the core. Lily was right, as usual. Merlin's pants, how stupid he had been the past few days.

Slowly, Remus nodded as he grinned at the girl he considered his sister and hugged her, glad that she had knocked some sense into him. Yes, he would always worry about his friends but he needed them, and they needed him. He still had a burning question, though.

"Then why aren't you talking to James, Lils?"

"That was a few days ago, Remus. We're talking now," Lily smiled and rolled her eyes again when Remus just continued looking at her, silently demanding an explanation. "He sent Petunia a bag of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, except that he only filled it with the grass, black pepper and earwax flavoured ones. Naturally, Petunia got suspicious and gave them to my father instead."

Remus barked out a laugh, dodging the pillow that flew towards him. That was so like James, making those who hurt his loved ones pay, even if it usually ended up getting him in trouble.

"That's going to be an interesting conversation to have when he finally meets your parents as your boyfriend," Remus chuckled.

"You're so funny," Lily sarcastically mumbled and straightened when three figures entered the Common Room and plopped themselves around the two.

"Hey," Remus greeted and pretended to not see the way Sirius and James froze while Peter just looked confused. Almost instantly though, dramatic scowls marred their faces.

"Are you finally done with acting like a git then?" James asked, his voice teasing but Remus could detect the underlying anger behind his words.

"Yeah, it was getting too tiring. I'm really starting to wonder how you and Sirius manage to be this way all the time," he grinned and when Sirius snorted, he knew he had won two of his friends over. Because as long as one of his friends had forgiven the other, Peter would wholeheartedly do the same thing. Lily laughed and James grinned, putting his arms around his girlfriend as Sirius started teasing Remus about being a diva.

"You did something, didn't you?" James softly asked her and she just smiled at him innocently. "Of course you did."

Lily giggled as she turned her attention back to the other Marauders, smiling like a fool when James kissed her cheek in thanks and Remus winked at her. She honestly didn't know how what she had said or did, but she was glad she had because the look of pure happiness on all their faces were priceless.

5.

She ran, as far away from the house as she could, not even thinking of Apparating anywhere. All she wanted to do was get away from her sister, from the life she so desperately hated because of her sister. To make matters worse, Petunia's new fiancé was dreadful. Lily had gritted her teeth throughout the meal, had been proud of herself for holding her temper until the moment Vernon started insulting her life.

Her mother's hand over her clenched fists had stopped her from hexing the man at first. But when Vernon had started getting sarcastic with her parents about allowing her to be in a wizarding school, and allowing her to have a wizard fiancé, Lily had lost it. Oh well, she'd turn Vermin back into a man again when she returned.

She hadn't even realised how far she'd run until she realised she was at the playground she used to always be at with Petunia. Her heart ached at the relationship she had lost with her sister. If Petunia had been a better sister, if she had accepted Lily for who she was, then maybe none of this would have happened. They would be best friends, sisters who were always there for one another, the maid of honour at each other's weddings. Instead, Petunia wasn't even inviting Lily to her wedding.

Lily wiped away the tears, refusing to let Petunia and her bulldog of a fiancé reduce her to tears. Lily had stopped blaming herself years ago, had realised that she would never be able to change who she was for anyone. No, Lily Evans was a witch whether Petunia liked it or not. And besides, who needed Petunia anyways?

The truth hit Lily hard. Even if she didn't need Petunia, she wanted Petunia in her life. There would always be that hope within her than wanted their relationship to be mended, to be maid of honours at each others' weddings, and to watch their children grow up together. Because Petunia was her sister, and no matter how badly she had treated Lily, Lily still loved her sister.

Lily jumped when a heavy piece of cloth draped around her cold petite body and relaxed when the familiar smell reached her nose and the familiar touch soothed her. She leaned against the body beside her, not at all bothered when two other figures gathered on her other side.

"What are the three of you doing here?" she asked. She smiled at Sirius when he looked at her sympathetically, understanding what she was going through. Furthest from her, Remus reached out and clasped her hand, squeezing it softly before letting go. For the first time since they arrived, Lily noticed that James was shaking, his eyes blazing as he took in her sad posture.

Lily rubbed his hand, an action she knew would calm him. "I'm fine, James."

"I will never understand how someone as vile as her can be related to someone as amazing as you are, Lily," he hugged her tighter and kissed her head, missing the way she smiled at his protectiveness of her. She'd been taken aback by it the first few months he showed it when they dated and while it still exasperated her sometimes, his overprotective nature made her fall in love with him even more each day.

"I lost control," she admitted and was not surprised when the Marauders grinned at her.

"We know," Sirius chuckled and proceeded to explain when Lily raised her eyes at them. "We stopped by your house to check up on you. Your father explained everything to us. Your dear sister was demanding that we transform him back. But really, a bulldog was just bloody brilliant, Lils."

"I actually thought he looked better on four legs," Remus laughed and Lily found herself grinning widely with them. "Peter sends his regards, by the way. His mother's still sick so he couldn't be here but I bet he would have loved to see that."

"I'm sure he would," Lily rolled her eyes. "I don't want to go back."

"Your parents are worried sick, though," James said and Lily sighed. "Just a few more days, love, and I'll take you away."

"Promise?"

"Marauder's promise," all three of them said and Lily laughed. As Sirius and James raced around the playground, pushing each other as they fought for rhe swing, Remus gave her a small smile.

"You alright, Lils? From what your dad said, it was a rough night for you," he said and Lily nodded.

It had been a rough night. But it had ended perfectly, with the people who mattered and cared about her the most.

"Everything's great, Remus."

A/N: Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this so please review! Xoxo