“You’re a lucky bastard,” Sirius said. James chuckled, deciding not to reply. They were gazing out over the courtyard, where students were milling about until the end of their break between classes.

“How?” Sirius continued.

How, indeed. How had James managed to get Lily Evans to agree to date him after all this time? What had James done to change her mind?

James was still riding the high he’d felt when Lily had said yes. He glanced sideways at Sirius, his best friend of six years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
“Hell if I know,” he said honestly. “All I know is that she seems to have come around after Snivellus called her ‘mudblood’.”

“Fuck that greasy git,” Sirius hissed. He paused. “On second thoughts, let’s not.”

James laughed. At that moment, the bell rang, signalling a return to classes.

“Hi, Sirius!” Mary MacDonald called as she walked past. Sirius simply smirked back at her. She smiled widely at him; as she turned around the corner, the two boys could have sworn that she was swaying her hips.

“Hey Padfoot, why don’t you tap that?” James said, elbowing Sirius in the ribs.

Sirius scoffed. “I could take her any time I want, Prongs. Most girls in this school are easy.”

“They are … except one or two here and there,” James concurred. He exchanged a meaningful look with Sirius.

Like Lily Evans, they both thought. Neither knew the other had thought the same.

Sirius began to get an idea of how he saw Lily Evans as the year progressed. He was surprised to discover how intelligent Lily was, given that he had been fairly annoyed by James’s infatuation with her in previous years, even to the point where he’d told James to simply forget her by fucking a few nice girls. Lily Evans was funny as well, causing Sirius to react in unexpected laughter several times. He also felt some resentment in how she seemed to have James wrapped around her little finger – he had spent far less time with James than he would have liked, as the besotted boy spent the time with Lily instead.

He had tried to adjust by engaging more with Remus and Peter Pettigrew, but it wasn’t just the same. Remus was a tad too serious, understandably due to his werewolf condition; and Peter was a hanger-on, for lack of a better term.

They were both virgins; for a short while Sirius found it amusing to tease and regale them with tales of his sexual exploits, sometimes describing in lurid detail various features of girls he’d fucked, such as Mary MacDonald’s large tits or even the Slytherin Quidditch Captain Emma Vanity’s astonishingly hairy pussy. Sirius grew bored of it, especially when clueless Peter started to pester him with questions one too many times.

As the months went by, Sirius decided he’d finally had enough. He was going to find Lily Evans and pry James from her clutches.

He took the Marauder’s Map from the place they’d last hid it and tapped it with his wand, activating it. He quickly skimmed the various floor plans of Hogwarts, hoping to find Evans’s name among the hundreds of names crowding in various parts of the castle. He shook his head, muttered “I’m silly,” and held the tip of his wand back on the parchment. “Lily Evans,” he enunciated clearly.

The map instantly zoomed in on Evans’s location; surprisingly, James wasn’t with her.

Where is he?

Putting the matter out of his mind for the time being, Sirius concentrated on Evans’s location. She was on the third floor.

Folding the Map away, Sirius walked briskly. If he was fast enough he’d be able to catch her alone.

It so happened that he was a Marauder, and the Marauders knew every inch of the castle. He took a shortcut hidden behind a tapestry and found himself on the third floor five minutes later. He looked around briefly; only a few people seemed to be about. Sirius set off at a fast trot towards the location where he’d figured Evans to be in.

He spotted her walking down the corridor at the far end; she was about to leave for Merlin knew where.

“Evans!” he shouted, hoping to stop her in her tracks. She turned at the sound of her name.

Seeing him, Lily Evans raised her eyebrows. “Yes, Black?” she said.

“Evans, I want to tell you something.” He caught up to her. Grasping her arm, he led her into the nearest empty classroom.

Once inside, he spun the girl and pinned her to the wall. There was shock on Evans’s face.

“Listen to me very carefully,” Sirius growled. “I don’t like what you’re doing to James.