First of all, thank you for reading my story, I haven't written in a while and when I go back and read my previous work I can't believe I acutally posted those because they seem so stupid to me. I'm hoping this will be better but please let me know. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Thank You.

Disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter. I do not own Lily, the Marauders, the school, or the teachers. All I own are the people you haven't heard of, like Olive and Mystery.

She could do it you know. She could just pick up that brush and do it. She could make her hair perfect, wear clothes that fit better and were a bit more reviling, and add a little color to her cheeks. She could be popular at the drop of a hat. Actually, when she thought about it, she was pretty popular. She was no Olivia Kit mind you, but everyone liked her. So yes, she could be popular if she wanted to, more so then Olivia if she actually tried.

But why? Why follow all the stereotypes and give up studying to turn into a sexy whore who sleeps with half the school then pouts that her life has no meaning. Why on earth would she rather study, get good grades, and have her life have meaning. She chuckled, guess it was a mystery. Speaking of Mystery, she was the one who had spawned all this rational and irrational thinking.

"Come on Lily, this is a sleepover, you have to let us give you a makeover." Mystery said, matter-of-factly.

"Nice try Myst, but it's not really a sleepover, they all live here." She said, looking around at her four roommates.

Mystery sighed. "Come on Lily, could you play along just this once? Please?"

Now Lily sighed. "Look, you know how I feel about this stuff…" she started, then seeing Mystery's downcast face she felt slightly guilty. "Ok…how about I promise I will let you give me a makeover before the year is over?"

Mystery grinned and jumped up to go join the others.

'What have I gotten myself into?' Lily thought, running her hands through her hair distractedly.

She laughed to herself, 'I guess I know why Potter does that now...stupid git.' She added as an afterthought.

Yes, she knew he wasn't the worst guy in the world. He was mildly attractive 'that's putting that mildly, Lily', he managed to be both a wonderful student and captian of the Gryffindor quidditch team. He was very charming and, she was sure, very nice to those girlfriends of his. Despite all these good qualities, she disliked him.

No, it wasn't a second grade crush type of dislike, the one where you say you hate them to cover up how much you like them, Lily just did not care for James Potter, and she was sure the feeling was mutual. True, he had a crush on her in 5th year but he had gotten over that and now they just had a mutual dislike for each other.

She picked up the hand held mirror Mystery had been holding and looked at her reflection, frowning. She had dark circles forming under her eyes from staying up late and studying and her summer freckles were nearly gone, leaving her face pale. She thought about how in the old days the paler you were the more attractive people found you because it meant you never worked in the sun and were of high class. Well, she knew she wasn't of high class, especially not here where being pureblood was really the only high class they had. But thankfully it was only the Slytherins that believed in that...mostly.

She sighed, pulling a piece of her wavy hair upward. Yes, she knew it was frizzy, but that was fixable. Some liner to bring her eyes out...not that they needed it. If there was anything Lily liked about herself it was her eyes. She put the mirror down, wondering if she actually would let Mystery give her a makeover later in the year. She really didn't care, looks didn't matter to her, just the opposite in fact, she had been slightly overweight when she was little and it made her immune to many things. The little girls who were pretty were always being told so, when you're not told you're pretty constantly, then it becomes one of those things that aren't so important to you.

She suddenly felt sorry for the other girls in her dorm, they were all pretty, yet they all felt they needed makeup and special hair cuts to be that way. Why was it the prettier girls were the more they felt they had to cover that up with beauty products? She shook her head, glad about her childhood as it had led to her being able to see people for who they were and not what they looked like. It made her nice...and she was nice, she knew that. She knew sometimes she was a bit too nice and people walked over her, but usually her temper took care of that.

Back when James had liked her he use to call her feisty, said she was sweet but could turn spicy at the drop of a hat. Remembering back, she had cursed him for that. She laughed at the memory.

"What's so funny Lily?" Sarah, one of her roommates, called.

"Just laughing at that green goop you all have on your faces." She said, grinning.

"It's a pore cleansing mask Lily." Mystery said, as if Lily should know better then to call it green goop.

She laughed again. No matter how different her and Mystery were she would always love the girl. Her best friend since the first night they had spent at Hogwarts. She had never clicked with anyone as she had with Mystery, which was odd because they were so different. Mystery was wild and daring while Lily was more reserved and strategical. While Lily was doing homework, Mystery was usually seeing how long she could hold her breath or something crazy like that. She smiled, she was thinking a lot tonight, which was actually a good thing. Usually she was so stressed with schoolwork and Prefect duty that she didn't have time to just sit and think. But this was the first night back at Hogwarts from summer vacation and there were rules, no studying, no worrying, just have fun.

As soon as Mystery had owled her about her great idea to have a sleepover first night back she had to cover her eyes with her hands and take a deep breath. She automatically thought of the girls staying up late and her not getting enough rest for the first day of classes. She had shared her worried with the girls on the train and they had promised to wrap it up before midnight. As it was only ten now, Lily had yet to remind them of the timelimit and just figured they should have fun while she sat there thinking.

She was missing her Mum and Dad already; she always did after she came back from summer. Missing her Mum's pancakes and her Daddy wanting to play ball with her in the backyard. Her Mum always cried when Lily went off to school, she always tried to hide it but Lily knew she cried. When the train pulled off her Mum was always in her Dad's arms, her shoulders shaking slightly, and her Dad always waved goodbye to her. She felt her eyes gloss over slightly at the thought of them and she blinked to clear her vision.

She thought of the train ride. She had to leave her friends to go give instructions to the Prefects. Had Dumbledore not included the name of the Head Boy in her letter then she probably would of fainted from shock. Yes, James Potter was Head Boy. She was sure the Prefects could tell that they didn't like each other, but they maintained a business air that she was surprised he could manage. She guessed Dumbledore had also included that they should be civil around each other for the sake of the Prefects in his letter like he had included in hers.

It was odd seeing James, he had changed a lot over the summer. He was taller and seemed to carry himself differently. She didn't know what it was but his personality seemed different as well. He was quieter, more reserved then she had ever seen him. It was actually very worrisome; not that she would worry about James Potter mind you. She sighed, hoping he was ok. I mean you could not like someone and still hope they were ok, right?

"Did you guys notice anything different about Potter?" She asked.

All the girls were quite for a second.

"Where did that come from?" June asked, looking back at her.

"Just…I saw him on the train and he seemed different."

"Probably his parents." Sarah said offhandedly, painting her toenails.

" Sarah…why do that if your shoes are just going to cover your toes? And what about his parents?"

"You didn't hear what happened? Have you been under a rock all summer?" June asked

"No, I've been in the muggle world, remember?" Lily said, agggervated.

"Don't feel bad Lily, I have no idea what they're talking about either." Mystery said.

"How do you not know? It was all over the Prophet! There was even an article in Witch Weekly." June said.

"I told you I went to France to stay with my Aunt this summer." She said, becoming as annoyed as Lily. "Now what the bloody hell happened?"

Sarah became solemn. "James' parents...they were murdered."

Mystery and Lily gasped. "What?" they both breathed.

" That evil wizard, You-Know-Who…James' parents were Aurors, they were on a secret mission and were killed." Sarah shuttered at the thought.

"Voldemort?" Lily asked, she had been following the story of Voldemort before the summer, but had forgotten about it when she had gotten home.

" Lily! You can't say that name anymore! He's been killing people left and right, everyone calls him You-Know-Who now." June snapped.

"Who cares about some name, what about James?" Mystery asked before Lily could yell at June for snapping at her.

June sighed. "Here." She said, tossing Mystery a copy of Witch Weekly. Lily moved so she could read over her shoulder.

Loveable Orphan

James Potter, son of famous Aurors Emily and Steven Potter, has suffered a great tragedy. Last week we received numerous letters regarding the late Emily and Steven Potter and wishes for the readers to see how their just as famous and very available son James was taking the news that his parents were taken from him from this You-Know-Who person. We tried to schedule an appointment with James to see just how well he was taking it, he was always unavailable but thankfully this reporter just happened to encounter him while he was getting his school supplies in Diagonally.

Hello Mr.Potter, I'm Rita Seeker, the newest reporter on the Witch Weekly crew and I was hoping you could answer a few questions for your fans.

Of course, I've been wanting to get these feelings out for a long time.

Oh anything to help Mr.Potter, how are you taking your parent's sudden deaths.

I think I'm handling it well, it was such a shock at first, I feinted you know. I'm not ashamed to say I cry a lot and I really don't know how I'm going to get through this school year without them there. I suppose I'm just lonely, being single and all, I just want someone to love and someone to love me, you know?

Yes Mr.Potter, I'm sure those lovely ladies at Hogwarts can help you out there. Next question –

"Rubbish! This is all rubbish." Lily spat, grabbing the book and throwing it across the room.

"Hey!" Mystery said, retrieving the book and flipping back to the interview. "It's rubbish but I still want to finish it."

Lily sighed, leaning back on her bed. "I can't believe you pay for that crap June, you have to know that whole thing was made up."

"What do you mean? I think it was very sweet for James to admit he cries…I just can't believe they mentioned your name…5th year was so long ago."June said

"My name?" Lily asked, confused.

"Yeah…it says something about you in here Lil." Mystery said, handing the magazine back to Lily.

She scanned till she did indeed find her name.

Ok James, I will honor your request and put my Quick Quill away, now, is there anyone you had in mind, like someone at your school maybe? I heard through the grapevine that you had something going with one of your classmates in 5th year and you haven't had a girlfriend since?

What are you….do you mean Lily?

Oh Lily, is that her name? Is she pretty James, what do you like about her.

No I don't…she is pretty but…we never went out or anything…she never liked me…but that's not the point...

Oh, heartbreak at such an early age, you poor thing, I'm sure Lily is feeling quite foolish now that you're all grown up, isn't she.

No, she isn't…look, you leave me and Lily alone I don't want to talk to you.

Unfortunately James had to leave after that, he was getting a bit teary-eyed and didn't like to show it, I'm sure that's the reason for his hostility. But there you go ladies, a heartbroken, available, loveable orphan who just wants to be loved. If you would like to write to James turn to page 32 for the address.

"Rubbish, she was using a Quick Quill thing." Lily said, throwing the magazine again. "I'm going to bed before I get angry and write a very mean letter to Witch Weekly, you all better head to bed soon too." She said, climbing to bed and pulling her curtain in place.

"Poor Lily." Sarah whispered. "Still won't admit she likes James."

"She doesn't like James Sarah, honestly. I don't like this fixation you have on them getting together." Mystery whispered back.

"Like James would look twice at Lily." June said huffily, leaving the other two and climbing into her own bed.

Sarah and Mystery looked at each other.

"Jealous." They said together, both getting up and heading to bed themselves.

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