Chapter 1

----- "Wow" an 11-year-old Hermione Granger said as she gazed at the beautiful scarlet train that would be taking her to her first year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and every year there after for the next 7 years.

After leaving her luggage, Hermione walked onto the train to find a compartment. She found an empty one and sat down. Hermione then pulled out a book and started to read. She only looked up from her book when she heard the compartment door open.

"Hi" a pale, sandy-haired boy said "Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

"Sure, I'm Hermione." Hermione said "Hermione Granger."

"Remus Lupin. It's nice to meet you." The boy called Remus said. The two 11 year olds started talking about books, family and houses until two black haired boys opened the door. One had glasses and hazel eyes and the other had striking grey eyes. Both boys wore mischievous smiles on their faces and they were panting heavily.

"You know, for a Black, you're alright." The boy with glasses panted.

"Same goes for you Potter." The other boy replied.

Remus and Hermione looked at each other before one of the boys said "Hi, I'm James Potter and this is Sirius Black. Can we sit in here?"

"Sure. I'm Remus Lupin and this is Hermione Granger." Remus said and Hermione waved.

James and Sirius sat down and the four 11 year olds started to talk.

"So what house do you guys want to be in?" James asked.

"Well, I want to be in either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. They look like the best." Remus said.

"My family has been in Gryffindor for generations so that is probably where I'll be going." James said.

"Well, I'm a muggleborn, but like Remus I think either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw." Hermione said.

"My family has been in Slytherin for centuries but I hate my family so I think Gryffindor would be great." Sirius said.

James clapped him on the back and said "Welcome to the group."

Hermione out her hand out, palm down and said "To new friends." The boys put their hands on top of hers and it was on that day that the Marauders were born ----

"Whisper. Whisper wake up." A 17 year old Sirius Black said as he shook his best girlfriend awake.

Hermione Jean "Whisper" Granger woke up slowly from her deep sleep and pleasant dreams. As Hermione's chocolate brown eyes opened she looked at the one of her 3 friends that woke her up and said "Why did you wake me? I was having a good dream."

"Was it about me?" Sirius said with a cocky smirk. Remus rolled his eyes from behind his book and continued reading.

"You wish Sirius. I was actually dreaming about our first ever train ride. Now again, why did you wake me up." Hermione asked as she rubbed he sleep from her eyes.

"We wanted to know if you wanted something to eat." Sirius said.

"Just get me what I normally get. Now can I go back to sleep?" Hermione asked.

"Sure Whisper. Hey Moony, when is Prongs getting back?" Sirius asked as Hermione placed her head in his lap. This was a usual sight, Hermione lying with her head in James, Sirius or Remus' lap whilst studying or talking.

"Where did he go in the first place?" Hermione asked, barely covering a yawn. The two boys smiled affectionately at the only girl in their group as she tried feebly to cover up another yawn.

"He had a Head's meeting and he should be back soon." Remus answered both questions.

Hermione nodded and was just about to fall asleep when James walked into the compartment and plopped down on the seat next to Remus. He looked dazed and the Marauders all knew why.

"Let me guess, Evans is Head Girl." Sirius said.

"Of course she is Padfoot. Lily and I celebrated that over lunch the other day." Hermione said her head still in Sirius' lap even though she no longer felt tired. He was subconsciously stroking her hair and Hermione was enjoying it.

James looked at his friend in awe whilst Padfoot and Moony shook their heads. The food cart lady came by and the Marauders bought their food before sitting back to talk.

"Guys, you do realise that this is our final year of school. After this year, we will be adults out there in the big bad world." Hermione said.

"I can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday that we were little pranksters meeting Peeves for the first time. Now look at us. We are the most well known pranksters in Hogwarts history. We are leaving behind a great legacy." James said.

The compartment door slid open and in the doorway stood two beautiful girls.

One was Lily Evans. Lily stood at 5'6 with silky red hair that ended just under her shoulder blades. Her eyes were almond shaped and shone a brilliant emerald green. She had a milky complexion with a spattering of freckles on her arms and nose.

The other girl was Sophie Gordon. She stood at 5'5 with short blonde hair that touched her shoulders. She had crystal blue eyes and like Lily, her complexion was fair however she had no freckles.

Hermione was a total contrast to her friends. Hermione stood at 5'9 with long brown hair that had been tamed from a very bushy state to sleek waves that flowed to her lower back. She had (as stated before) eyes that looked as rich as melted chocolate. She had a tanned complexion and if you looked close enough at her nose you could see a light spattering of freckles.

"Hey Lils, hey Soph. How are you?" Hermione asked, raising her head from Sirius' lap.

"Good chicken. You?" Sophie asked.

"I'm good." Hermione answered as Sirius let out a barely audible whimper as Hermione moved away from him. James and Remus looked at one another and smirked. They knew that Padfoot's feelings for Whisper had grown since first year and it was quite funny.

"Do you want to come to a compartment with us and catch up?" Lily asked.

"Sure girlies. Ok boys, I'll talk to you later." Hermione said. She stood up and walked out of the compartment following the girls.

"Well boys, looks like it's just us." Sirius said stating the obvious.

"No shit Sherlock. Now to important business." James said.

"What's that our welcome back prank?" Sirius asked with a twinkle in his eye that flashed dangerously.

"No you prat. Your feelings for Whisper." Remus said catching onto James' drift.

"What feelings? Whisper is my best friend." Sirius lied unconvincingly.

"Bull Padfoot. You love her and you know it. Why don't you just admit it instead of jumping from girl to girl?" James said.

"I can't Prongs. Whisper is too good for me and with my record with girls following me why would she want me? That is all I have to say on the subject." Sirius said before turning to gaze out the window.

The two boys in the compartment shook their heads at their friend's idiocy before James pulled out a packet of Exploding Snap and Remus started to read again.

With the Girls

Lily, Sophie and Hermione walked up the train before finding an empty compartment. The three girls went in, sat down and started to talk.

"So girls, how was your summer?" Hermione asked.

"Mine was great. I went to Paris with my family. We had so much fun. We climbed the Eiffel Tower, visited the Louvre and shopped at all the amazing French stores. I bought so much stuff." Sophie gushed. Sophie was a half-blood. Her mother was a muggleborn and her father was a pureblood.

"Well, I went to Venice with my mum and dad. Petty stayed home with her 'boyfriend' Vernon Dursley." Lily shuddered. Hermione and Sophie also shuddered. They had met Vernon at Christmas last year and hated him immediately. He ogled them like they were pieces of meat. Petty was Lily's older sister Petunia. She was a horse faced, long neck girl who was very plain, a total contrast to Lily's beauty.

"What about you Mya? What did you do?" Lily asked.

"I went to beautiful Hawaii. My brother finally decided to come home from college, bringing his new girlfriend so we all went away. It was so beautiful. I learnt how to hula. Cassie, Matt's girlfriend, and I had so much fun getting pampered in the spa, sun baking on the beach, boy-spotting at the beach and shopping. Cassie is his nicest girlfriend yet. Mum and dad think that she is great for Matt. Damien and Louise also came. They brought Toby and Chris with them so we, Cassie and I offered to babysit some of the days so Damien and Lou could spend time together," Hermione answered.

"Matt deserves someone nice. His last girlfriend, Mary was it, was a cow." Sophie said whilst Lily nodded her head.

"Yeah well she's gone so all is good." Hermione said.

"How old are Toby and Chris now?" Lily asked.

"Toby is 4 and Chris is 2. They are so cute." Hermione answered.

The compartment door opened and, the girls expecting the boys to be at the door turned and smiled.

Their smiles dropped and glares replaced them when they saw who was standing there.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Hermione asked venomously.

"My my my aren't we a tad bit snarky today Granger? We just came for a visit." The boy called Malfoy said.

Lucius Malfoy stood at 6 ft with pale skin, ice blue eyes and platinum blonde hair.

"Well, you've had your visit now leave." Hermione said before flicking her wand and shutting the compartment door.

Malfoy stormed away muttering something under his breath as the girls laughed at him.

"That was good Hermione but I think he's gunna have something up his sleeve to get you back with." Sophie said, a cautious tone lacing her words.

"Meh, I'll survive. I have the boys to back me up if need be." Hermione answered.

Lily and Sophie exchanged a look that went unnoticed by Hermione as she gazed out the train window.

The ride passed quickly and soon the kids were pulling into Hogwarts station.

"We'll I'll see you guys inside. I have to go help Hagrid with the first years." Lily said.

Hermione and Sophie nodded before linking arms and heading off to the carriages.

"Hello ladies. May we have the pleasure of travelling up to the castle with you?" A smooth voice said from behind the girls.

They smiled and turned to find Remus holding open a carriage door and Sirius standing next to the open door.

"You may." Hermione said without waiting for Sophie to give input. Hermione knew that Sophie liked Remus and this was one way to get them to talk.

Hermione stood on the step and was about to get in when she felt a warm hand enclose hers. She looked down and saw Sirius holding her hand to help her in. She smiled and blushed a little as she got in. Sirius followed Hermione in and took the seat next to her. This left Remus and Sophie to sit beside one another.

Remus offered Sophie his hand to help her in. She took it and blushed furiously. She sat down in the carriage and glared at Hermione who just smirked.

Remus climbed into the carriage and shut the door before the horseless carriage headed up the path up to Hogwarts.

"So girls, what did you do for the holidays?" Remus asked hoping to strike up a conversation to cover the awkward silence that hung between him and Sophie. He had liked Sophie for about 3 years now but never acted upon his feelings because of the lycanthropy. The Marauders knew of his feelings and Hermione was going to set the pair up in their last year of school if it was the last thing she ever did.

"Mine were good. I went to Hawaii with Mum, dad, Damien, Lou, Matt and Cassie, Matt's new girlfriend. Sophie?" Hermione said with a smirk as her friend got a little bit flustered.

"I went to France with my family. We went to the Louvre and went shopping. I got some great pictures of the Louvre." Sophie said.

"What was your favourite painting in the Louvre?" Remus asked Sophie.

"Probably the Mona Lisa." Sophie said, easing into the conversation.

"That was my favourite when I went there 2 summers ago as well." Remus said, smiling at Sophie.

The pair kept commenting on the art, leaving Hermione and Sirius to talk amongst themselves.

"So how were your holidays Pads dear?" Hermione asked as she rested her head on Sirius' shoulder. This act, unbeknownst to her made Sirius smile and want to wrap his arms around her.

"Umm they were good. Spent the whole time with James and Remus." Sirius said.

"Poor Anne. I hope you weren't cruel to her." Hermione said. Anne was James' mum and she lived Hermione. Hermione was the daughter she never had.

"We weren't cruel, we mostly played Quidditch. We did want to come and visit you but when we arrived at your house no one was there and your neighbour told us you had all gone to Hawaii. Why didn't you tell us?" Sirius asked.

"It was literally a spur of the moment thing. Dad rang the airport and booked 9 tickets, we all packed and left. I'm sorry I didn't write, I didn't have time. Forgive me?" Hermione said, pouting and giving her best puppy dog eyes.

"Of course Whisper. We could never stay mad at you." Sirius said, giving his friend a hug.

The other two occupants of the compartment smiled at their friends and began calculating a plan in their heads.

The carriage soon stopped and Remus and Sirius got out first. They helped the girls out and headed up to the castle. They all walked into the Great Hall, found seats at the Gryffindor table and waited for Lily and James.

The Head Boy and Girl soon arrived and sat down with their friends.

As soon as they sat down, McGonagall walked into the Great Hall followed by a long line of first years. The first years all looked around the hall in amazement. They were in awe from the floating candles, to the ceilings, to the ghost and finally to the ratty old hat sitting on a three legged stool ahead of them.

"Now when I call your names, I will place the sorting hat on your head and you'll be sorted into your houses. Now, Claire Jones." McGonagall called.

A timid looking brown haired girl walked up to the stool, sat down and the hat was placed upon her head.

"Hmmm right, a new batch of first years. How interesting. Ok for you Miss Jones I believe the best house for is HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat yelled out and so the sorting had begun.

20 minutes later, all the first years were sorted with Hufflepuff receiving 8, Ravenclaw 6, Slytherin 10 and Gryffindor 15.

Dumbledore stood and said "Welcome. To our new students this is the beginning of what we hope will be 7 exciting, fun filled years here at Hogwarts. For our 7th years, this year marks the end of your 7 years here at Hogwarts. We hope they have been fun ones and we hope that you will all make the most off this year. A few messages, for our new students and for some of our older ones, the Forbidden Forest is just that, Forbidden. There is a list of banned items attached to Mr. Filch's door that consists of about 30 items. I would also like to congratulate this year's Head Boy and Girl, Lily Evans and James Potter of Gryffindor. Could you two pleas see me after the feast. Now I believe I have held you up for long enough, dig in."

Food appeared and everyone started to grab their food and pile their plates high.

"So Mya, did you make prefect?" Remus asked.

Hermione swallowed a mouthful of food before answering "Yep. I did. Congrats to you as well Moony."

Remus smiled and continued eating. The Marauders, Lily and Sophie ate the rest of their meal talking about their holidays.

Finally the plates were all cleared and Dumbledore stood "I trust your dinner was good. Now it is time for you to all head to your dormitories. Prefects will lead the first years there and could the Heads please come and see me. Goodnight."

Chairs scraped the ground aas everyone stood. Hermione, Remus, Sirius and Sophie left the hall whilst Lily and James went up to Dumbledore.

"Don't you two need to help with the first years?" Sophie asked Remus and Hermione.

"No, Marcus, the 5th year prefect offered to do it for us." Remus answered.

The group of four walked to the portrait of the Fat Lady that guarded their dorm.

"Somnium (dreams)." Hermione said to the Fat Lady. She swung open and the four friends walked into their beloved Gryffindor common room before talking for a few hours then heading off to bed to get ready for their first day back at Hogwarts.