Lily woke to the sound of her mother's voice. Her initial thought was to plead her for a few additional minutes of rest, that was until she remembered what day it was. Glancing at the clock on her night stand, she read the time, 8:45 am. Scrambling to get out of bed, she managed to tangle herself in her sheets, regretfully ending up on the wooden floor of her bedroom with a dull 'thump'. The bottom part of left hip ached and she could already tell that it was going to bruise, but instead of clutching it painfully like she would any other day, Lily sat up grinning.
Looking to the far left corner of the small room, she spotted her desk. It was neat except for the many stacks of books that seemed to be piled on top. Looking directly up from it, there were find three shelves, stretching the length of the wooden surface below it, filled completely with rows of books. In the middle of the wall above the desk and below the shelves, a calender was hanging. It was currently displaying the page for the month of September that had recently been folded over. The only day with writing on it was the first of the month which had been circled, starred, underlined, and boxed in ever color marker known to man.
It was September 1st, the day Lily Evans would leave to go to Hogwarts.
To Lily this was Christmas. It came once a year and just the thought of going was worth more than all of the presents in the world. The times spent at her magical school were what she lived for. While reminiscing, Lily's friends appeared in her mind. She missed them dreadfully and couldn't wait to see them.
"Lily, you up yet?" Smiling to herself she replied with a 'yeah, I'm up'.
Eagerly, Lily stood and made her way out of her room and into the bathroom next door. After brushing her teeth and showering, she fixed her hair, applied her make-up, and got dressed. Her trunk had already been packed for weeks so all she needed to do was drag it down the stairs and leave it by the front door. Next to it she laid her peacoat, purse, and a pair of shoes. Entering the kitchen, she found her breakfast and her family. Her father was silently reading the paper while sipping coffee from his mug. Her mother was bustling about the room putting things away neatly, and taking more out. Her older sister Petunia was siting quietly eating her toast.
"Good morning everyone!," Lily said politely.
"Good morning sweetie," Mrs. Evans said smiling.
"And what a good morning it is! Do you know why?" She drawled. Her father chuckled.
"Because you're finally going leave and go back to that freak school?" Petunia said crossly. She received a brief scolding from her mother.
"Exactly!" Lily said pretending her sisters comment wasn't as nasty as it sounded.
"Eat up dear, we must be leaving soon."
"Yes Mum," she replied sitting down slowly, Lily practically devoured her toast and eggs. When she finished, she cleared her plate and ran back to her room. She stopped when she reached the shelves above her desk. Her face filled with concentration as she studied them.
"Which one, which one?" She spoke softly to herself. Her eyes stopped on one with green binding. Satisfied with her choice, she pulled it out, knocking down a few others in the process. Settling on the bay in her windowsill, she opened it and began taking in as many words as her brain could hold.
&&
The Evans family pulled into Kings Cross at 10:45am. Lily, still absorbed in her novel, didn't notice until her sister rudely elbowed her in the ribs. After her father unloaded her trunk from the car, she said her goodbyes to her parents and Petunia, and passed through the brick wall to Platform 9/3.
She walked at a constant pace while dodging the many students, also eager to get on the train. A few times she would stop and stand on her toes to try and find any one of her friends. She'd then proceed without any luck. After her trunk was loaded, she took one last glance around, sighed, and began to make her way to the entry doors on the train.
"LILY!" A deep voice rang out from somewhere around her. She quickly turned searching everywhere for who the voice has belonged to. Her search stopped when a group of 4th years walked away from their previous position, revealing the very people she had been searching for.
Sirius Black stood a few meters away from her with a large grin plastered on his face. It grew when she met his eye. He began racing towards her at the speed of light. Behind him stood James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. James took off towards her too, followed by an eager waddling Peter. Remus came too, though at a much slower pace with a sweet smile on his face.
By then Sirius had reached her, thrown his arms around her, lifted her off of the ground, and was spinning her around as fast as he could. Laughing, she pleaded with him to put her down, but something inside her knew that he wouldn't until he was finished. Lily, after a while was relieved to find herself back on the ground, however still with Sirius's arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders.
"Okay Sirius. Sirius. Now come on really this is ridiculous, I know you missed me," Lily strained as she paused to cough, "but do you really want to kill me?"
"Alright now let her best friend through," James's voice came from behind. Sirius released her but pouted slightly with his arms crossed over his broad chest. He really was pathetic.
James pulled Lily into a tight embrace and whispered into her ear, "I missed you."
"Same here," She replied squeezing him tighter as she quickly kissed him on the cheek. They both reluctantly pulled back smiling, not leaving each others eyes.
"Hey don't I get a kiss?" Sirius asked, clearly still upset with having to let go of Lily.
"No," James and Lily answered simply at the same time.
"Well why not?" His face portrayed confusion.
"Because she likes me more," James said smugly.
"Does not! Lily? Tell him he's wrong!"
"Sirius, just go play with fire or something." A new voice interrupted.
"Hey Remus!" Lily said stepping over to him. They quickly hugged, and just in spite of Sirius, Lily pecked him on the cheek. She pulled back smiling to herself at what she had started again.
"Hey! What was that? WHAT was THAT?" Sirius said outraged.
Rolling her eyes Lily said to him, "Just come on we're still missing one."
"No. I won't. I feel betrayed." Sirius stated rasing his chin.
"Fine suit yourself, we'll just leave you here with Ms. Chaplins." Lily said knowingly. Remus sniggered as the group started walking. Sirius turned behind him to find a group of giggling girls who were all staring. In the middle a much too skinny girl with stick-straight too blonde hair stood waggling her fingers at him. Natalie Chaplin was known for her major infatuation with Sirius and could be described in one word, stalker.
Eyes widening, Sirius turned quickly and ran to catch up with Lily and the rest of the Marauders. Not even looking up Lily sensed his presence, "Back already are you?"
"I rethought it and decided to give you another chance."
"Splendid, now if only we could find-"
"Lily!"
"Lily? What?" James asked confused.
"We already found you though!" Sirius said.
"No, I know I didn't say that it had to have been-"
"Evelyn!" Remus's shouted looking towards a crowd of people as they parted. A very pretty girl with soft dark brown hair came jogging through the path made.
"AHH! Get her away!" Sirius said hiding behind Lily.
"Shove it Black. I'm not going to hit you...yet." Evelyn said once she reached them. She hugged Lily tightly and smile returned to her face.
"So how was your summer?" She asked.
"Not bad, yours?" Lily replied.
"Not bad."
Sirius stepped forward. "How's your boyfriend? Honestly I think that boy's taken one too many bludgers to the head to last from the end of last year through a whole summer with you," Sirius said smartly. Evelyn glared at him and smacked him. He winced as her hand collided with his head.
"Honestly you really need to learn to keep that big mouth of your shut Black!" Screamed an angry Evelyn.
"You first!"
"God Black you're so immature. Remind me why I even talk to you."
"I wouldn't exactly call this talking Young!" That was it. The bickering that Lily remembered so well had begun, as did her 6th year at Hogwarts. Next to her James stood with a smile on his face, laughing silently to himself.
"Tell me why I actually missed this?" He asked gazing at the two who were throwing insults back and forth at one another.
Sighing to herself Lily decided on a simple answer, "It's home." The two boarded the train shortly after hearing the whistle. Remus and Peter followed after. Sirius and Evelyn last, each with scowls on their faces. The six friends found 'their' compartment, the one they shared every year, and began their journey to Hogwarts.
