The first day I met the Marauders, I knew I was going to be their best friend. It was a random, cold night, and I couldn't sleep. That wasn't a rare occurrence; I was diagnosed with insomnia when I was a young child, and then, there wasn't really anything to do with it since I was so young. Anyway, back to the story about me meeting the Marauders. 

It was a full moon that night (obviously, so Remus could change). I was traipsing around the grounds of Hogwarts and had stumbled upon the Shrieking Shack. It looked like someone tried to cover the windows with pieces of cloth and boys clothes, but they didn't do a very good job. At first, I thought that it was just a couple going down one each other, but then I saw four different silhouettes in there, telling me that there definitely wasn't a couple in there. First Year me didn't think that was quite natural, so I had to investigate it. 

Sneaking forward, I drew my wand. Recently, there had been rumors that something evil was stirring, and if there were true, I wanted to be the one to find it. That way, I'd be able to prove myself to these people, that, yes, a Muggle Born Witch is just as strong as anyone who was born into a Pureblood wizarding family - or even a half-blood wizarding family. 

I waited until it was quiet in there before blasting the door wide open. For a second there, I thought I had knocked it off its hinges, but it just swung back and forth as I stepped in. Four boys stared at me with terror written all across their faces. One of the boys was nearly naked, with just a piece of cloth in front of him. I had no idea what I had stumbled into, but I knew it was something strange.

"Who are you?" the boy with the circle glasses asked quickly. His black hair was a mess all over his head, giving me more of an inkling of what I had thought happened in here. 

"And what are you doing here?" a pudgier boy asked. His cheeks were a little rosy in the dim moonlight that shone through the tears in the clothes and sheets that covered the grimy window. 

"I could ask you lot the same thing," I said to them. I now knew that none of these boys were stirring up any sort of trouble; well, the kind of trouble that the authorities would need to take care of. From what I thought was going on in here, the only authorities should have been the teachers to talk these boys into some sense. "What is going on here?"

"Can't you tell?" the tall, skinny boy asked. He slipped his arms around the two boys who had clothes on, drawing them closer to him. A small smirk appeared on his face as his eyes flicked down the length of my body. My cheeks grew warm at the invite. "You could join us, if you want. The more the merrier, right?"

"Sirius," the boy with no clothes warned. His face was pinched as he stared at me. I only kept my gaze locked on his because I was afraid to look any farther down, just in case the cloth wasn't covering everything on him. "We have to tell her the truth."

"No, we don't." Sirius - the lanky boy who had given me the strange invitation - took a step forward closer to me. There was something dangerous in his eyes as he stared down at me. "We have to kill her."

My back was pressed up against the door of the shack, so I couldn't get away from this Sirius character. That smirk deepened on his face when he sensed my fear rising through my chest. Thankfully, my arm was trapped somewhere in my robes, near my wand, so I quickly grabbed it and said, "Petrificus totalus!"

Sirius's body went completely still as the spell took over. The only movement that came from him was how his eyes darted around, trying to get his friends' attention. I reached out with my other hand and shoved him forward, watching in satisfaction as he fell to the ground with a loud thud. 

"See, that's what you get when you act like that," the boy with just the cloth said, sighing. "Not everyone likes being threatened."

"You think?" I snapped. "Now, can someone please tell me what's going on here? If none of you do, I will get Professor Dumbledore and have him deal with you lot."

"Remus is a werewolf," the pudgy boy blurted out. He clamped a hand over his mouth, his eyes stealing a glance at the kid with only a loincloth on. "Oh, Remus, it was your secret to tell! I'm incredibly sorry."

"Peter, you're fine." The kid - Remus (was he named after one of the Roman leaders who happened to be raised by a she-wolf?) - gave Peter, the pudgy one, a soft smile. However, when he turned back toward me, a grimace replaced the smile. "If you don't believe that I am a werewolf, then I would suggest you stay to see me transform. If you believe me, then you can go."

Sirius tried to say something, but since I used a body binding curse on him, all that came out was grunts and mumbles. My eyes traveled between the four boys, and I knew then that they would always be best friends. I was a loner here at Hogwarts, and my heart sunk when I knew I wouldn't have a huge chance to have friends like them. So, I gave them a tight lipped smile and said, "No, I believe you. I best be going, though." And with that, I spun on my heel and walked away from them.

Okay, so we didn't end up becoming best friends right off the bat. It was more like the next day that I knew we were going to be the best of friends when they all sat with me in the Dining Hall like we were all old buddies. Sirius was the one who sat next to me and commended me on how well I did the body binding curse, though he wasn't very happy with me because I used it on him. From that day on, the five of us were known as the Marauders - Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, and Claws. Yeah, we didn't really think my new Animagus form out very well, did we? But it didn't matter. We were going to be best friends for life. 

I just never thought I'd fall in love with one of them.

Never mind that part. It'll come in a little while. Up next, though, was when Sirius's brother decided to be a bloody menace, even though I knew the true him. 

The sun was shining. The birds were chirping. The four boys, Lily Evans, and I were sitting on a blanket on the grass, enjoying a picnic that Sirius and I put together. It was our Sixth Year together, and we knew that our time at Hogwarts was coming to a close. There was only one more year left, and we wanted to make use of all the time we had left with each other.

Sirius was sprawled out on the grass next to the blanket, his eyes shut and a peaceful look on his face. It had been a while since he looked that peaceful, and it was all because of his terrible family. It wasn't his fault that he was sorted into Gryffindor, just like it wasn't my fault that I was a witch with normal parents. Maybe that was why Sirius spent so much time with us; he had to get away somehow, and we were that getaway from the terrible things that had happened to him.

Lily was saying something, but I couldn't help but stare at Sirius. I placed a hand on his ankle, and one of his eyes popped open. He glanced at me, and for some odd reason, I swore I saw his smile grow bigger. "Yes, dear?"

"Dear?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. The mischievous look in his eyes brightened. "That makes me sound like I'm a damsel in distress, and you know that's not me at all."

"I was just trying it out. You know, so we could have cute little nicknames since we're besties and all."

"Sirius, stop annoying Y/N!" Remus scolded, and I glanced over at him. He was situated between Peter and James, and he didn't look very happy about it because they were bickering about something James did to Peter's homework. "You do this everyday, and she ends up getting upset when you go too far."

Sirius quickly sat up and shook his foot, making my hand fall off of it. He crawled towards me, plopping down right next to me. Bumping my shoulders with his, he said, "I don't annoy you, do I, Y/N?"

I opened my mouth to answer when James responded for me. "She won't answer that, dimwit. She's the closest with you, so she'll probably lie to stay on your good side. We all know what it's like to be on your bad side." James shuddered, pointing to Lily. "Remember when he saw us chatting in the hallway? He decided to play a little prank on us, and guess what? My eyebrows haven't grown back right!"

"Whatever," Sirius said, rolling his dark, dreamy eyes. They remained glued to the bright blue sky as he leaned back on his hands. "I'm a good guy."

"Are you really a good guy, dear brother?" Sirius straightened his back, clenching his jaw when he heard who spoke. He shot a look at me before glaring back up at the sky. "Because we all know that our family is considered . . . how do I put it, vile and bad?"

"Regulus," Sirius said, his voice sounding strangled. I placed a hand on his arm, and he loosened up slightly. He looked over his shoulder, and so did I. Regulus Black was standing there, surrounded by his cronies. All had sinister grins on their faces. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see how my disowned brother was doing."

Sirius tensed underneath me, and there was a growling sound coming from his mouth. He was going dog on them, but no one else knew that he was an Animagus, so I said, "It would be best if you left us alone, Regulus. You know you're not wanted here. You've never been wanted, not even from your parents."

"Oh, little miss Mudblood wants to talk, does she?" Regulus said, grinning wildly. He didn't seem to hear my jab at him as he congratulated himself on calling me that. Anger clenched at my heart, and before anyone could stop me, I hopped up and launched myself at him. I didn't land a blow on him, though, because I was blasted backward by a spell from one of his cronies. "Oopsie daisy."

I clenched my fists as Regulus made his way over to me. The rest of his cronies were blocking my friends from coming to my rescue, so it was up to me to take care of myself. "What do you want, Regulus?" I asked him after I stood up. I held my wand out in front of him even though I did not want to hurt him. As much as I hated him, he was Sirius's brother, and I wasn't going to ruin what was already falling apart fast. "Why do you hate us so much? What have we ever done to you to make you feel this way?"

"Because Mudbloods like you don't deserve a spot in this school," he spat back. He took a menacing step toward me, so I took another step back. "Don't you get it? You don't belong here because you're not one of us."

"I am just like you!" I shouted. His eyes glittered like this was funny. "I am a witch, through and through. Just because my parents aren't wizards does not mean that I don't belong here, Regulus. Just like it doesn't mean that you have to follow in the footsteps of your parents." It seemed like I had hit a nerve there. His dark eyes flashed at me. "You don't have to wreck havoc on everything you encounter. You don't have be like this, Regulus."

He didn't answer me. Instead, he shouted one of the Unforgivable Curses at me. Thankfully, I dodged out of the way of the green blast and threw a spell back at him. It flew totally opposite of him, and I heard Sirius yell, "Now is not the time to be stuck in the body-bind curse!"

I was temporarily worried about Sirius since my spell hit him that I didn't even see Regulus sneak up on me. He grabbed me by the arm and began muttering curse after curse. Each one hit me, sending pain coursing through my body. My heartrate was skyrocketing because of how much pain I was in. The corners of my vision were growing blacker and blacker with each hit he was throwing at me. Shouts echoed around me, but I couldn't really focus on them because there was a strange snap that came from my left arm. It hung at a weird angle, but I couldn't really tell why it was doing that.

The last thing I saw before passing out was Sirius standing over me. He was saying something to me, but my mind was already shutting down. All I could do was stare up into those beautiful eyes of his and hope that I wasn't dead.

---

"Now, put your arm in this sling, Miss L/N," Madam Pomfrey said gently. She touched my broken arm and helped me slip it into the sling. All of the pain was gone, but there was a dull feeling in my chest as I stared at the stark white sling. "I'll be right back with more gauze for the wound on your head."

"Okay."

I watched as she walked toward the closet on the opposite side of the room. She was buried deep inside the closet when the doors shut on her. I could hear the locks click shut, but I couldn't see who did it. Even if I couldn't see him, I knew who it was.

"What are you doing here, Sirius?"

The Invisibility Cloak fell off of his shoulders, revealing the boy I had come to love standing at the foot of my bed. His eyes took in the damage that Regulus had done to me. With each wound, he seemed to grow angrier and angrier.

"I told Regulus that I'm better off without him," Sirius said as he sat down next to me on the bed. I leaned into his shoulder and rested my head against his as I let out a sigh. "I said that he could die and I wouldn't even care."

"Did he realize that you were lying?"

"I don't think so."

"Why did you even say those things to him, Sirius? He's already questioning whether his loyalties lie with evil or good, and this is just showing him that evil will always be there to take someone in."

"No one can hurt the woman I love," he whispered, his voice dark. I didn't care that he sounded like a murderer right then. I didn't care about much of anything besides the word 'love.' "If they do, then they deserve to die."

"You love me?"

Sirius glanced at me with a laugh. "That's all you heard?"

"You love me."

"I've always loved you, Y/N."

Maybe it was because of the concussion I had received because of Regulus or maybe it was because of the look in Sirius's eyes, but I found myself leaning toward him. When our lips connected, I knew that this feeling in my chest was as real as the words he had said out loud. 

"I've always wanted to do that," Sirius whispered cheerfully as we pulled apart from each other. He grinned at me, saying, "How long have you known you liked me?"

I honestly didn't know the answer to that question. When had I fallen for Sirius? Was it all of a sudden, or was it gradual? But when I opened my mouth to speak, I suddenly knew what I wanted to tell him. "I felt bad for you when I learned who your family was," I said, making his dark eyes look even darker. "I wanted to make it up to you even though it might not have worked. I was your friend first and foremost, and I thought that I could . . . sub in for your family. That's when I knew."

"You're too good for me, Y/N."

"No, I'm not." 

We grinned at each other and closed the distance between us. Everything melted into the background - that was, until Madam Pomfrey burst out of the closet that Sirius had locked her in. I jumped away from Sirius, and I could feel my cheeks start to redden. Madam Pomfrey looked between the two of us and let out a sigh. 

"Shall I let the others in as well?" she asked, giving a pointed look at Sirius. 

"Yes, please."

She walked toward the door and opened it. The three other boys and Lily spilled into the room, like they were pressed up against it, trying to listen in on our conversation. "Miss L/N, I'll be back soon to finish up. Until then, you can socialize."

"Thanks!"

As our other friends walked toward my bed, Sirius whispered in my ear, "What do you say about being my girlfriend? That way, we can finish what we started here some other time, without interruptions."

All I could do was laugh, and I sure hoped that Sirius took that as my answer. He smiled at me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side. Lily raised an eyebrow, but I shook my head. I would tell her and the boys later, but now, it was time to have some fun. I never thought that I would have friends like these, let alone end up with a boyfriend, but life worked in weird ways.