I Solemnly Swear ((perfect.imperfection and Keo))
 

Before the time of Harry Potter, whose mischief (along with Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley) during his years at Hogwarts could be joked about through the Great Halls, and even before the infamous Wealsey twin a more mischievous group paved the road for further mischief; even after their deaths. The Marauders, as they are referred too, consisted of four boys whose friendship ran so deep that when one of them was suffering a werewolf transformation every full moon the others decided to try their best to become animagi. Little else is know about they boys besides the mischievous map they left behind that you lead young Harry Potter in quite the mess when in his possession. However their tale will be woven here this very moment...

Character list:
perfect.imperfection: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Lily Evans
Keo:: James Potter, Severus Snape, Peter Pettigrew

((Keo: Sorry it took so long! Here it is!))

In a room in the Leaky Cauldron, a young man sat on his trunk, absentmindedly staring at the floor in front of him. 'How could you not follow in your ancestors beliefs? It's been that way for many generations, your blood is literally royalty! It's because of that Potter boy isn't it?! Bah, you are no son of mine! Once you were sorted into that blasted Gryffindor house I knew trouble was brewing! Now... GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!' The memory still fresh on his mind, but instead of feeling hurt he felt somewhat relieved. He wasn't like one of them, the extremist who believed in blood purity and believed pureblooded wizard were above anyone else. How can that be so? When dear Lily Evans was a muggle born and she could brew a mean potion around anyone in school.

'Their way of thinking is medieval...' he thought as he slowly raised from his seat. He looked out towards the window down at the people going about their shopping as the term at Hogwarts was inching closer and closer. 'That reminds me I haven't gotten any of my supplies, I should just do that quickly... Though I don't have any money on me. What a pinch I'm in.' He looked at the watch on his wrist and noted the time, it was around a quarter to two. "The others should be gathering at the meeting spot, maybe I could see if my other maruader can lend me a hand." With the thought of seeing his good friends once more his sadden face lifted as he head down the stairs to the bar of the Leaky Cauldron.

~

A young woman was in one of the many aisle of Flourish and Blott's shifting through the endless amount of books they had to offer. Her hands delicately touching the spines of the books, a delightful sigh escaping her lips. She always loved the smell magical books, they had a particular scent to them much different from muggle text. Her bag was already filed with the materials needed for her fifth year the the wonderful Howargts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Right now she was currently looking for a leisurely read, she picked out a couple of potion books, a rather large divination book, and a couple of young-witch novels. As she traveled closer to the back of the top floor she found a small sitting area; two large comfy arm chairs, an oval coffee table, and a unique looking lap (it twisted like it was vines). Dumping her rather heavy bag of school supplies next to one of the armchairs and placing the other books on the coffee table, she tucked her legs under her as she sat down in the chair and picked up one of the potion books. Before opening the book she looked down at her watch to see what time it was, "I hope he gets her soon..."

~

Amongst the many viles, ingredients and potions that filled the Apothecary selves a young man walked looking for a particular item. He had a basket full of miscellaneous ingredient already, but the one he was looking for currently was his actual goal. The shop keep took note of his searching eyes and spoke up, "Anything I can help you find young man? My what an assortment of ingredients you have there! What do you indent to do with such a mixture?" At the arrival of the voice the young man jumped slightly but quickly recovered and gave a small smile at the old man. "Ah well yes, I thought I would do a little bit of tweaking here and there to a certain potion. See how this ingredients affect it. If you could direct me to where you keep your wolfsbane?" The young man talked rather quickly, as he wanted to avoid his true intentions, if the shop keep took note of this he hadn't shown it. He lead the young man to a particular shelf where the light blue flower lay, a knowing and understanding smile plastered on his face. The young man purchased the items in his basket, thank the shop keep for his assistance and began his walk to the door. Before exiting the shop keep called after him, "Come back and tell me how those modifications work out for you sonny!"

Remus Lupin was taken aback by the comment, processing that he hadn't hidden the truth well enough, but regardless he was relieved that the shop keep hadn't judged him. As he made his way to the marauders usual meeting spot his thoughts were focused on the effects of each of the ingredients he had just bought and what benefits they could bring to his cause.

The scruffy Dark haired boy walked down Diagon Alley proudly with his parents, he was very excited to finally meet up with his friends, he'd sent many things by owl over the summer but he knew he always had difficulty getting things sent to the Black residents because sometimes he wouldn't get a reply. He knew they didn't approve of their son being a fellow Gryffindor, his parents bought him new robes for the fifth year running, he had unexplained stains and holes from the potions he was desperately trying to learn. "Ouch!" He shouted at the seamstress who was trying to fit his robes, he got really figity and impatient as he knew he was going to meet his friends soon and he didn't want to be late to see them. Eventually he was done and he said goodbye to his parents for the time as he walked away to find his friends, his parents wandered off to a coffee shop down the cobbled pathway and discussed work over two large mugs of coffee.
James re-scruffed his hair into the careless mess he always wore it in. He beemed with excitement at Sirius when he saw him walk out of the Leaky Cauldron.
"SIRIUS!!" he shouted at his friend, he looked around for any of Sirius's family but the coast seemed clear, "You made it here alive then?" He joked. It wasn't a particularly funny joke, "You seen mooney yet?" He asked.

Severus saw a glimpse of the red head he'd been chasing for five years walk into Flourish and Blott's, it wasn't that he was stalking her, atleast thats what he tried to kid himself, he was just looking for the right oppertunity to say 'hello' to her, it has been a long and very warm summer and he had missed seeing her around. Unfortunatly he'd noticed that James was making a more serious effort to try to speak to her and he knew he was loosing the battle. It didn't help that he had to watch out for hexes flying over his head all the time, most of them were fired from James. They always threw him off his stance, he picked up a tricky looking potions book and found Lily sat with a book in her hands, she looked so peaceful, and beautiful. There was also no sight of the irritating little Gryffindor so Severus sat next to Lily, "Hope this seat wasn't taken," He said shyly, "How was your summer?" he asked her, he clutched at his book nervously.

The little round boy was in Flourish and Blotts waiting for his friends, as soon as he spotted Severus speaking to Lily he rushed out and went in search of his friends to tell him them the news. Peter was one to gossip but he was always used to his advantage here, especially by James who knew he could get him to do pretty much anything he wanted, Peter was nothing but loyal to the boys, they were his best offer of friendship, he scurried away and eventually bumped into Potter, literally.
"Watch it!" He shouted before realising who it was, he grinned, "Peter! You alright?" He asked, but he could tell there was something he couldn't keep inside him.
Peter looked up at James and Sirius with the upmost respect, "I think, no... I know I just saw Lily she's in Flourish and Blotts."
"Yeah?" James asked curisously, Peter didn't know how best to phrase his next words.
"With Severus." He finally stumbled out.
He saw James scowl and turn to Sirius, "Snivelus already chatting to my Lily?" He asked, Peter was almost nervous to see the look between James and Sirius but he was equally excited at the same time.

((Keo: Sorry for taking so long again .__. I've had work and it's just like askjdfjg gah! Anyways I know that Lily and James don't official start going out until they're in their seventh year. I read on hp-lexicon that Lily was too fond with James until who knows when, but I think it's safe to assume they started develop real feelings for each other during their sixth year? So I'm making her a little snooty when it comes to talking to James))


The comment from his fellow maruader had struck a chord in Sirius; he wasn't hurt per say but it was like rumble a pinch of salt in his wounds. It brought back the memory of his mother throwing a fireball right at his head as he was leaving. He had dodged for his life as his mother threw curses and hexes at him. However he didn't want to show how much it had affected him as he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and replied with "I barely made it out with all of my hair, but yeah I was able to make it out! As for mooney, or anyone else for that matter, I haven't seen yet. James since it's just the two of us I wanted to ask you a question..." Out of their friends he felt the closest to James and he felt that he could approach him with this topic. He couldn't stay at the Leaky Cauldron after the school year ended. He was hoping to be able to ask his friends if they could lend him a helping hand. He had opened his mouth to ask the question when Wormtail unceremoniously entered the scene.

Sirius patiently listened to what Wormtail had to say and as soon as Lily's name came up he sighed mentally. 'Well I guess I can't ask James now, once something involves Lily he won't focus on anything else.' James turned to him and gave him the look that asked if he was up for a little mischievous behavior. He hesitaited for a moment but replied James look with a look of his own, a smirk on his face. 'Ah well, I'll just have a little fun with this to take my mind of the situation.' He started walking towards Flourish and Blotts.

~

A small smile appeared on Lily's lips as she heard his voice. 'Took him long enough. I could tell his been following me all day, I wish he would talk to me more freely, like he use to..' Lily owned Severus for actually introducing her to magic and being there for her when Petunia would try to make her feel bad for being a witch. She always like his company but ever since coming to Hogwarts they started drifting apart. It also didn't help that James Potter always kept pulling pranks on poor Severus. 'Trigger-hex-happy buffoon. I swear I do not understand why so many girls just fall at his feet. I dont see anything in him except for a conceited bully.'

Looking up from her book she flashed Severus a smile as he sat down on the other chair next to her. "Not at all! I was actually reserving the seat for just you Severus. I swear you don't have to act like your walking on eggshells around me, we use to be able to be so comfortable around each other." She closed her book to face him, a small frown gracing her face as she observe his hands nervously holding a book. She turned her attention back to his face and smiled once more, giving a small snort as she remembered her summer. "My summer consisted of Petunia constantly calling me "weird" or "freak". I was trying to simply read some magical literature and she would give me this funny look. I swear I could just throw a petrify curse at her if I could, just so I could go one day without judgmental eyes." Her eyes narrowed as she stared into the bookcase in front of her, picture her sister, petrified, a look of pure shock on her face.

She laughed at the thought and turned back to Severus and ask how his summer had went.

~

Remus Lupin sat patiently at a table in Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, he had ordered a chocolate sunday as it seemed that none of his companions had arrived yet. As he was waiting for his sunday, he went over his notes that he had been working on all summer and took out a potions book to reevaluate the items that he had just purchased. Currently he was looking at the effects and properties of a Strengthening Solution, "It can presumably increase the strength of the person who drinks it, I wonder if it's possible to have it increase the strength of a potion..." When his chocolate sunday was placed in front of him by a serve he thanked the girl and looked around the ice cream parlor.

"Strange they're not here yet. It's already two o'clock, god I pray to Merlin that they aren't getting themselves in any trouble. The school year hasn't even started yet!" He ate a spoon full of ice cream as he jotted down to further research the properties of the ingredients in the Strengthening Solution.

(oops read and didn't respond so sorry!! xx )

"All your hair?" James repeated, "Damn and you could have had a free haircut." he laughed and ruffled Sirius's hair.


Severus relaxed a little more into the seat, "Its just difficult for me Lily, you understand why. I know you're going to choose James over me I just want you to think about it more. I'm a nice person and well, you've seen him. He's a jerk!" Severus said seriously with a sigh. "Have you seen the new booklist?" He asked he tried to change the topic of conversation away from himself and James, he didn't want to talk about it he knew it only made Lily angry with him but he hated how she never saw him as a possible option. It filled him with self doubt and made him very self conscious.
"She's the freak!" He complained. "You're a normal person, more than normal, wonderful. you're a great witch. Especially considering you're muggle born!" Even though Severus was nice about it, it was obvious he believed muggleborns to be lower witches and wizards. He couldn't help it though, he was brought up that way.

James had picked the perfect moment to scope out Severus, "Lily's a fine witch regardless of her blood line, its wizards like you that give us a bad name!" He saw Severus hold his wand and he quickly disarmed him, "Expelliarmus." James said lazily. He was pleased with his entrance he looked like a strong, brave courageous boy. Or atleast in his mind that's what he looked like. Severus scrambled for his wand on the floor and James nicked his seat, he picked up Severus's new book and tossed it over to him it hit him in the back of the head. "How was your summer Lily?" He asked with a grin. "Obviously boring without me around."

Peter grinned happily at the sight to James getting one over on Severus, it was all rather childish really but Peter felt powerful to be in the group with the strong boys, although they were now very late for meeting Remus. Petter tugged on Sirius's sleeve. "Shouldn't we go to see Remus? he must have been waiting ever so long and James can see Lily on the train. She doesn't look very happy with him anyway." Peter sighed he wondered if his friend would ever date Lily.