22Disclaimer: I'm okay with the fact that I don't own anyone named Potter, but if someone would like to give me Snape, Black, and/or Lupin, I'd be a very happy bunny.
This is an AU of Viskii's fantastic AU, "It Falls to the Young," which you should go read if you haven't already. This will make absolutely no sense otherwise. I post it with permission.
Platform 9 ¾ was buzzing with chatter. Nearly every student from second year up had one thing on their minds: Peter Pettigrew, a member of the infamous Marauders, had been arrested by Aurors as a Death Eater, and escaped on route to Azkaban. He had even participated in the kidnapping of the other three Marauders! The most common questions were: "Do you think Potter, Black, and Lupin recovered?" "Will the Marauders be able to maintain their position as top pranks without their number four?" "Do you think the Marauders will try and replace him?" And, of course, "Why was Pettigrew a Marauder anyway? It's not like he did much."
Lily Evans, the perpetual love interest of James Potter, stood with her friends, not saying much. It was so hard to believe. The Marauders had always seemed so close. How could Peter betray them? Also, out of all the Marauders, she would have pegged Peter as the last to turn. He always seemed so harmless.
Lily did not really like James Potter. He was a swaggering Pureblood prat, always playing pranks on people and acting like he owned the school. Which she did not like. No matter how cute he was. One the other hand…
Lily had arranged for the Daily Prophet to be delivered to her home. One day, the headlines had been "HOGWARTS STUDENTS BETRAYED BY CLASSMATE" and "KIDNAPPED STUDENTS ESCAPE YOU-KNOW-WHO." Lily had read the paper with growing dread. James and his friends had been captured by You-Know-Who. He had escaped, but she could not help but imagine how he must have suffered. The thought of the constantly laughing James she knew suffering through the horrible tortures YKW (A/N: Oh, come on. You know who that stands for. I refuse to type it out Merlin knows how many times. Why the wizarding world couldn't just call Voldemort 'Him' or some other really short title, I have no idea. Okay, done ranting now.) could devise.
Soon, the mass of students began to grow quiet. The Marauders had been sighted. Lily watched as James, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin walked towards the train. The crowd parted to let them pass. Finally, Sirius broke the silence. "Hey mates! It looks like Hogwarts has recognized our greatness. Lesser beings yield to our incomparable majesty!"
Many in the crowed started to laugh. The tension eased. It soon escalated again, however, when a sneering voice replied. "Actually, Black, I believe your odor is enough to make anyone wish to keep their distance."
'Great.' Lily thought. 'We haven't even boarded the train yet, and already Severus Snape is challenging the Marauders.' On the other hand, the odds were slightly more in his favor now. 'I hope Lupin breaks this up before they start casting hexes. Otherwise, I'm going to have to get involved. Meaning I may have to get between two posturing males who have no concern for innocent bystanders. Why did I want to be a prefect again?'
"Snape," James began, turning to face his Slytherin adversary, "I was wondering when you'd show up."
"I was held up by your mother." The Slytherin sneered back. "Apparently, you forgot something very important. She asked me to bring it to you."
From the expression on James's face, Lily could tell he knew he was going to regret what he was about to ask. "Alright Snape. What did I forget?"
Snape's smirk grew into a very evil grin. "Why, your Royal Princess Quidditch Gear, of course."
James turned bright red as Sirius and Remus burst out laughing. "James, my friend, you are never going to live this one down!" Sirius howled.
"Come on guys, it wasn't that funny!" James complained.
"Oh yes it was!" Sirius replied. "Was not!" "Was too." "Not." "Too." (A/N: and so on.)
Lily watched in disbelief as Remus put an arm around Snape's shoulders and lead him toward the train. "Come on, Severus. Let's grab a compartment while there's still time. We usually take the last one, but if you have a preference…" The boys climbed onto the train, and Lily couldn't hear them any longer.
The students still standing on the platform were suffering from extreme confusion, and Lily was no exception. 'There's no way I just saw what I though I saw. Sirius doesn't laugh when Snape makes fun of James, he hexes him. In fact, any time Snape does anything, Sirius hexes him. And Remus could not possibly have invited Snape to join them on the train. Things like that do not happen. This has to be some sort of elaborate prank. With Snape. Which, once again, makes no sense. Okay, Lily, think. Prefects have a meeting during the ride. You can corner Remus then, and get an explanation.'
A/N: Hope you liked. Shall I go on? Please hit that pretty little button at the bottom of the screen and let me know.