Please don't be put off by my huuuge first post! I'm only trying to settle everything now. It's really not that much, and once read, you never have to read it again! If need be, just nab a character and read the shorter summaries just above the character list

It's the Marauders' Seventh Year and the close friends are drifting apart, little by little. James is spending an inordinate amount of time with Lily, trying to gain the courage to ask for her hand in marriage after Graduation; whilst Lily is haunted by the distance between her and Severus -- wondering what could have been in another life.

Sirius, although not living with his family anymore, is uncertain of what he'll face after Hogwarts -- he thought he could count on James to stick by him; together they could do anything, like becoming the best Aurors or creating the greatest Quidditch team! But James is so focused on Lily nowadays... he doesn't prank other students as often, and is even starting to think of raising a family with Lily one day -- their differing interests and concerns for the future are creating a rift between them... who will Sirius turn to now?

Remus is steadily returning to his former self -- hidden in a shy shell from the rest of the world. His friends are so smothered in their own concerns no-one seems to notice his. With Remus fading away, who will reach out to him and save him?

Peter has always been misunderstood -- none of the Marauders really tried to delve deep into his problems, and now they're catching up to him. He's a wizard with reasonably average-skills, considering his inclusion in the Marauders; but after following the others' direction for all of his time at Hogwarts, what will he do when they eventually part?

Desperate to regain his close-knit friendship with the Marauders, and also hoping for some decisive 'bonding' time with Lily, James organises a holiday for them in a secluded log-cabin in the woods -- property of his parents, it has sleeping quarters for all of them. But what happens when he goes back on his resolve to re-establish the bonds between the Marauders, and instead spends his entire time 'courting' the gradually wilting Lily? Will long buried secrets of themselves be revealed when the remaining Marauders turn to each other for companionship? Or will these fated attempts to mend their troubles only deepen the rift forming?

Obviously, this is a little AU. It features the Marauders and Lily trying to overcome parts of themselves they may not have admitted otherwise in canon; or as an alternative way of displaying such.

It's set in the winter holidays of their Seventh Year, in a smallish log cabin deep in forest near James' residence. They left three days after the last full moon, meaning that the next full moon will fall on Christmas Eve (I can't remember Hogwarts' start day for the Christmas hols so I'm making it end of November/beginning of December); there's a secure wartime bunker not too far from the cabin, where Padfoot and Wormtail will keep werewolf-Remus company during the full moon while James takes Lily for a date in town to keep her safe.

The cabin layout is as follows: there is a reasonable sitting room, complete with small, outdated Muggle TV (for novelty's sake) run by magic -- surprisingly enough; there's a cramped kitchen space, again full of Muggle contraptions but with a few Magic ones too; and three bedrooms (and shared bathroom between them). Lily has a bedroom to herself, and next to her is another that James shares with Peter (due to the dissipating relations between Sirius and James, Sirius opted to bunk with Remus), complete with two single beds. Remus and Sirius share a room with a bunk-bed and desk: Remus took the top and Sirius the bottom, due to Padfoot's inability to climb the ladder to the top.

This RP is in Salazar's Lair because I intend for us to delve very deeply into the characters' inner-selves (and whatever lies within). Therefore, it's set in a secluded area so the characters can only interact with each other -- no made-ups will be needed for this RP, due to the intensity required for the canon-characters. This is set throughout a period of just over a month -- starting after they arrive by Portkey on December 1st and ending a couple of days after New Years. Due to this, character-development needs to be spread out so that everything is 'resolved', one way or another, by New Years. Therefore, we need to think about how much time has passed during a conversation/actions, etc. If one character suddenly exclaims 'oh look, it's getting late, I'd better sleep', then the other characters will respond in turn and another day will begin. Every couple of posts, time should move forward -- Morning to afternoon and eventually night, as appropriate. I'd like the character change to be gradual, and moving along the days will allow us to continue that at a steady pace whilst still accelerating time forward in order to resolve matters.

Primarily, the characters should go through these conflicts:

James realises that he is losing touch with the friends he's had for almost over seven years, but after all this time he's finally close to Lily. She's become the most important aspect of his life, and he wants to make sure he'll never lose her by preparing to ask her hand in marriage.

Lily has been spending so much time with James she's torn between staying close to him and starving off neglecting her friends. Between these two constant pressures, she begins to wonder how things would have been if she'd remained close with Severus -- and what would have become if she'd shunned James for his company... Or maybe even someone both kind and sensible, yet different from them both?

Sirius thinks he's losing his best friend, James, but at the same time he's worried for his future. All those plans he and James used to joke about could come true -- if only James wasn't still so obsessed with Lily! Old family feuds pray on his mind, and if that wasn't enough, something strange is wrong with Remus... as if he didn't have enough on his mind!

Remus is returning to his shell -- troubled about the past, present and future, he spends his time deep in thought, isolating himself from his friends. Out of all the Marauders, his friendship with Sirius is strongest -- but will Sirius be able to leave behind his own problems long enough to help him? Or should Remus 'come to his rescue' first...?

Peter is greatly misunderstood. He doesn't have anyone to talk to -- no-one will listen and his friends are so cooped up in their own problems they dismiss his as trivial. But are they really? What is buried so deep in Peter he's afraid of it himself? Insecurity? Low self-worth and esteem? Only time will tell if who he truly is will be revealed for all to see...

Mainly, the course of character interaction is James and Lily; Remus and Sirius; James and Sirius; Remus and Lily; and basically Peter and everyone, considering the others' preoccupation with their complex troubles. Lily also knows about the Marauders' Animagi forms and Remus being a werewolf. Apart from the above, feel free to add anything you wish to the characters and/or their problems. The ending isn't set -- it can turn out any way you wish or make it.
Character List:

Remus: Me
Lily: Snape'sGirlThru&Thru
James: rubindo
Peter: Me (again!)
Sirius: city_girl_95

Pairings:

James/Lily
Lily/slight Severus (purely possibility or more, up to you -- obviously Severus isn't there but we all know how he feels )

Personally I've always found this rather cute, so perhaps slight Lily/Remus if the fancy takes you. Doesn't have to be serious, but with Lily thinking of what could have been, it could always come up. Actually, it could be Lily and anyone, really, but not *everyone*

Anyway, I think that's all I need to say. Have fun!

Ohh, this sounds really interesting. Could I take Lily please?

Sure you can I'm glad someone likes it

Wow. Sounds fascinating! James, please?

By the way, this sounds very "Breakfast Club"-y.

Thanks! Of course you can

I have to admit, I had to google 'the Breakfast Club' right now to find out what it was! But yes, I see what you mean

For shame. DO I need to post a bio...?

Naah, they're canon, I don't see much point I mean, you can if you want to, but you don't need to

Sirius pleaseee??

Sure!

Wow, now all we need is a Peter!

Hey, Elvi Peter still free? I'll RP him, if you want!

Hey you! Sure he is! And yes, I do

Oh wow, we now have a full RP! That's great! I'll edit this tomoz with the start

EDIT EDIT (): Oookay, now we've lost LonelyLupin, so there's a place free for Peter. Any takers?

Right, I'm doubling as Peter now, so we can start! My starter post is coming up -->

The lurching of Remus' stomach finally settled down to just a slightly nauseating feeling, relieving the pressure he'd felt on his chest from the Portkey that had just transported them here. His instant impression of the icy forest surrounding him was the immense chill it provided, the winter air coaxing his blood to freeze. Though generally able to resist temperature extremes through sheer will and ten layers of thick clothing, Remus was at a disadvantage this time. Hogwarts was toasty warm and welcoming, and provided a stark contrast to the scene before him.

Tall, silvery trees enclosed the log cabin in his immediate field of vision, and although it hadn't snowed yet this winter, the threat of being locked into a possibly poorly-insulated shack of wood didn't make him feel better about his prospects. Glancing downwards, Remus noted how frost clung to the frail twigs beneath his feet, and how oddly musical they sounded as he crunched and padded slowly towards the cabin; booted feet providing protection from the cold at least.

For just over a month this would be his sole refuge, with only his friends for company -- Lily, of course, included. Remus sighed to himself, nearly at the door, and stopped short of it; he should wait for the others and -- after all -- James had the key. Perhaps it would be a trying time, or perhaps they would learn more of each other -- but he'd never spent practically every hour of every day for weeks on end with just his friends for socialisation, and it would be hard for him; though perhaps harder for the others.

~*~

Peter did not like Portkeys. He didn't like Apparition, Floo Powder or flying either, but according to Sirius using a Portkey as a rat wouldn't end well -- he wasn't sure if this veiled warning was true or not, but he couldn't ask for clarification. He couldn't really ask any of them anything, actually. At least, that's how it seemed to him.

Remus, he noticed, was already making his steady way towards the cabin; he envied him a little for that. Sometimes it seemed that Remus possessed an easy sort of calm about him, more stable than Sirius' nonchalant cool, or James' easy ways. Even Lily had a sort of sensibility about her, intertwined with sensitivity, that Peter himself seemed fated not to possess.

Shaking such whimsical thoughts from his head, Peter hauled his bulging bag higher upon his shoulder; his small eyes flickered between the rest of his companions, wanting someone else to make a move so he could follow.

Lily wasn't extremely fond of Portkeys, but she found it a bit better than Apparition at least. Steadying herself, she straightened, glanced to each of her companions to make sure they were all there, then took a moment to scan her new surroundings, though there wasn't really much to see. There was the cabin, a forest of trees around it, and even without any snow the temperature was already quite cold and frosty. Lily could see her own breath as she exhaled, and she wrapped her coat tighter around herself. The sooner they got into that cabin, the sooner they could all get warm.

Glancing toward the others again, she noticed Remus already walking towards the cabin, and she decided to follow his lead. Moving after him, she beckoned the others to follow, particularly James who had the key. Because how else would they get into the house? Alohomora, perhaps, though she doubted James' parents would put a lock on it that could be broken by such a simple, commonly-known spell. "Come on, you guys. Let's not stand around in the cold all day," she said, her dark red hair billowing slightly in the light, chilly breeze.

Nice landing.

James landed on his feet after the portkey transported them. He saw everyone else have a rocky landing, but James was good. He took in his surroundings, along with the cold. Yeesh... It had to be 3 degrees Celsius outside. He quickly started moving towards the cabin seeing Moony, Wormtail, and Lily had already started going. He would have waited for Padfoot, but hey, everyone else was moving.

"Lily! Wait up!" He said catching up to her. His glasses were foggy from the cold air so he took them off to wipe as he got next to Lily. "You alright?" He said seeing the cabin come up through the trees.

OOC~: city_girl_95's sig says she's going to be away on holiday for a while, so until she gets back, let's just say Sirius hasn't arrived yet to prevent inconsistency (and Sirius standing out in the cold) he'll probably arrive via another Portkey or floo powder in the cabin or something, so watch out for it

Peter squeaked a little as he saw the majority of his friends begin to head over to the cabin. Puffing as he scurried in the chill, he managed to catch up with the others, thick clothing only succeeding in making him shiver in a cold sweat. Once he reached the cabin door where Remus was waiting, he dumped his baggage beside the doorstep and sat on it, blowing out a puff of air restlessly. The sooner the others caught up and James unlocked the door, the better.

~*~

Remus leaned idly against the door-frame of the cabin, playing with the threads of the scarf around his neck. Peter was beside him, Lily and James were steadily getting here -- which was good because James had the key and Lily looked like she'd rather be in the cabin -- and Sirius... had yet to arrive. But he'd turn up eventually, and that was obviously what James had wanted in the first place when he'd invited them all here -- together.

But until then, Remus was left blowing warm air into his freezing hands and waiting for James and Lily to catch up.

Lily slowed her pace and glanced in James' direction when he called after her. "You're so slow," she teased gently as he finally caught up. Starting after Remus and Peter again, she nodded at his question. "I'm fine," she answered. "I just want to get out of this cold." She shivered again as the chill wind continued to blow, and she quickened her pace to get up to the cabin faster. Merlin's beard, it was cold. She wondered briefly if she ought to have stayed at Hogwarts instead of coming here but dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. A little cold never hurt anyone, and besides, it surely wasn't going to be as cold inside the cabin as it was outside. So she'd be fine.

Finally, she stopped where Remus and Peter were waiting and turned expectantly to James, waiting for him to open the door.