Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling. Anna and Jess are lowly college students.

Author's note: Hello! Anna and Jessica here with our first attempt at a Marauder's Era fanfic. Let us know how you like it! Also let us know if you spot any mistakes so that we can fix them. Sometimes two pairs of eyes are still not good enough.

Chapter One: The Sheet and Trunk Incident

A loud thump interrupted the quiet and calm morning of September first. The thump was soon followed by a series of quiet curses and a few more thumps. The door to the room where all of the thumps had come from slowly opened and a concerned red-haired man poked his head in.

"Alright there, Lily?"

The girl in question sat on the floor in front of her bed, tangled quite badly in her sheets. "Yup. I'm fantastic," she quipped trying in vain to detangle herself.

The man, her father, laughed and opened the door the rest of the way. "Would you like some help?"

"No. I think I got it," She replied, laying herself flat on the floor. She then began to roll….right into her trunk. "That did not work as planned."

Her father let out another laugh and made his way into the room to help her detangle herself from her blankets, "Is there any particular reason your trunk is in the middle of your room instead of tucked underneath your desk?"

Lily stood up and very nearly tripped on her sheets, "I didn't want to forget it."

"You may be absent minded, but I don't think you could forget that huge thing, Lily."

"If you remember I forgot my wand last year. That is quite important. Thankfully Marlene's owl was actually with her on the train and not at home," Lily stated, not in the least bit proud.

"Thankfully your mother and I went straight home instead of stopping for brunch," Her father replied with a laugh. "You do have your wand where you will remember it, right?"

"I've learned from my mistakes, dad. Now shoo. I have to get ready," she said shoving her dad out the door.

"Alright, alright. You better hurry if you want to have some of mum's amazing chocolate chip pancakes."

Lily grinned. Chocolate chip pancakes were her absolute favorite breakfast food in the entire world. "Give me twenty minutes!" She shoved him out of her room and fumbled her way to the bathroom attached to her bedroom. The bright blue tiles of her bathroom floor were cool and hard beneath her feet as she made her way over to her shower, rubbing her tired eyes before reaching in and turning on the water.

She climbed into the shower, letting out a moan when the hot water began to hit her skin. Today was the day. The start to a new year at school. Her final schoool year. She slowly worked her strawberry shampoo through her hair. And bloody hell she was Head Girl too. She picked up her pace, washing and rinsing. She wondered who would be Head Boy. Hopefully it was Remus Lupin. He had been her fellow prefect since fifth year and she had always gotten along quite well with him.

She climbed out of the shower, grabbing on to the towel rack to top herself from slipping on the blue tiles beneath her feet. She wrung what water out of her hair that she could with a firm squeeze and gave a final sigh. Grace was a skill never bestowed upon to her. Toppling into her trunk was not the start she had been anticipating. "Come on, Lily," she pep-talked herself, speaking to nothing else but the shower tiles facing her. "Pull yourself together. This is the start to a fantastic new year. Everything is going to go perfectly."

With that, she gathered what was left of her belongings into her trunk. At least the item she considered most essential: Marjory Mittleburns: Magical Mendings for all Maladies. This was definitely an essential considering her inability to keep herself healthy and fit. She quickly pulled on a white button down shirt and a pair of jeans.

From downstairs, smells of buttery pancakes wafted into her room with the slightest hint of melted, fried chocolate chips. Breathing it all in brought a smile to her face. No one made chocolate chip pancakes the way her mother could. It was one of the many things Lily would miss about her home...

"LILY EVANS!"

A wince crossed Lily's face and she pressed her palm into her forehead, bracing herself for the next onslaught of screeching. There was never just one. Of all the things she would miss about home, Petunia's short-tempered patience directed at her would be one thing she wouldn't. "KITCHEN NOW!"

After all these years, however, Lily had grown to accept her sister's bitter attitude toward that had erupted the day her Hogwarts letters had been delivered to her. The downward spiral between them had spun out of control ever since for nearly seven years. What was worse was the fact her parents merely chastised Petunia at worse for such terrible manners toward her and Petunia took advantage at every turn to rain on Lily's achievements because of it, no matter how modest Lily tried to be to the point she practically kept most of her wizarding life at Hogwarts a secret around her family.

Especially the intimate ones.

Her face flushed at that thought so Lily nearly missed tripping over the last step leading down the staircase as she hurried. She managed to sidestep the final step by jumping clear over it entirely, landing with a loud thump. The floorboards trembled beneath her feet.

"How can such a small person make so much ruckus?" Petunia sneered upon Lily's appearance into the kitchen.

To Lily's relief, her mother intercepted Petunia's attack against her. "Be kind, Petunia dear. Now that your sister has joined us we can enjoy breakfast as a family. Now eat your pancakes."

Petunia stuffed a bite into her mouth with a small humph before turning her nose up at Lily who took the seat beside her. "I'll miss you while I'm gone," Lily said, trying to make amends.

Her sister continued to chomp silently on her pancakes. Lily bit down on the corner of her lip. Honestly. Who was she kidding? But at least her words sounded genuine enough that her mother believed them. She smiled pleasantly down at Lily. It didn't go ignored by Petunia whose brows furrowed deeper as if to say don't bother.

Their father burst into the kitchen hauling Lily's entire trunk behind him. It instantly lifted a smile to Lily's face, reminding her that Hogwarts was only a train ride away.

"Thank you, dad," She beamed at him.

"We can't have you carrying this now the stairs now can we? Can you imagine the trauma you could cause? To yourself? To our walls?"

"Gee thanks," She remarked sarcastically. Reaching towards the plate of hot pancakes in the center of the table, she heaped three onto her plate and dug in with quite vigor.

The doorbell rang and Petunia hopped up quickly, "That'll be Vernon. We're going to the movies and then lunch."

Lily's mother looked cross, "Petunia, dear you were supposed to ride with us to the train station to see Lily off. It's her final year."

Petunia scowled, "Mum! Vernon and I have been planning to see this movie for weeks!"

Lily tried to hide the disappointment, "S'alright Tuney. Have fun at your movie. I'll see you when I come home for Christmas."

Petunia just let out a grunt and flounced out of the room without another word.

Lily let out a soft sigh, "It's okay mum. You don't have to say anything. I'd rather have a pleasant final ride to the train station anyway."

Her mother sighed, "I just don't understand. You two used to be inseparable."

Lily just shrugged as her father sat down beside her and began to eat. "We just grew up I suppose. I really don't mind."

Not wanting Petunia of all people to spoil her good memories, she quickly dissolved the incident from her mind. Today was her day.

She finished her breakfast and helped her mother with the dishes, despite her mother's insistence that she didn't need help. She made her way to the car after quickly checking out her room to make sure she had everything. She bid her home goodbye and began the car ride to King's Cross where she would board the train heading towards her other home, Hogwarts.