Lily sat in the last compartment of the train, alone. The very last. She looked out the window, humming a sad song, and let reality sweep her away for a bit. She was going back to Cokeworth for the summer. She knew she'd get back into the rhythm of lying about who she was quickly. "Not much of a change", she mused, "just switching out masks." She was ready to get away from Hogwarts for a little while, away from magic, even. She was starting to hate magic, a little. She loved what it could do, what she could do, but she hated that there was another thing people could argue about politically- as if Europe wasn't already in a tight spot, let's add some wand-waving looney toons! Snorting to herself, she imagined Margaret Thatcher having tea with the Minister of Magic. She knew who would come out of that meeting looking like a deer in the headlights.

She heard a set of footsteps approaching her little den. She knew it was Severus. This was their little ritual, to sit there and mentally prepare for the summer without magic. To split a boatload of candy, rehearse their story for the nice muggles who ran the diner, and savor the last bit of time they could use magic. He always made his robes a bit longer, she always used it to duplicate her candy and hide it under the false bottom of her trunk for when she was homesick.

The footsteps stopped, for just a moment, then started up again. With that, she was ready to go back into the fray.

She strolled down the corridor, finishing her final set of rounds for the year. Satisfied that the student body's magical shenanigans were light-hearted and reasonably contained, she slipped into a compartment filled with laughter, music, and Gryffindor girls. Singing loudly, Dorcas Meadows, Mary Adams, Alice Fortescue, and Jacqueline Shacklebolt passed around a small flask. Lily, as prefect, really should've admonished them.

Instead, she partook.

The girls continued to listen to music, play with hair, and stir up no trouble for anyone. They dutifully had silenced the compartment, and tinted the windows just a bit so no one could see the little metal flask slowly making the rounds. Lily was curious as to their reception at King's Cross. Would parents notice? Would they even care? Their consumption was at least responsible and modest. Petunia probably wouldn't, or if she did she probably wouldn't comment.

She was torn between excitement and dread. Petunia had carried some resentment the past few years over Lily's magical abilities, but as far as Lily could tell, she mainly just really hated Severus. Lily decided she would lead with the fact that Petunia was right, as soon as they were in the car. Severus, as it turned out, was a twit. She knew he was more isolated this year, more scared of his roommates, he had told her. Trying to get in with them so he could protect her. What a load of bullshit.

Realizing that suddenly the room was very, very hot, Lily excused herself and walked down the car to change into her normal clothes. Lily refused to show up to King's Cross every term wearing robes. She wanted her two lives as separate as she could keep them, and compartmentalization was key.

In the cramped bathroom, Lily pulled on a crop top and jeans. She kept the shoes, she always kept the shoes. She felt like they represented some weird, fun contrast- but were not too dramatic, like wearing a set of robes into the real world. Her magic friends always scoffed at her for calling the muggle world "real". It was certainly more reasonable of a place than Hogwarts, she always thought.

Slipping out of the bathroom and back towards her mischief-making friends, Lily concentrated on the ground. She could almost hear her mother scolding her for her posture, but she continued looking down and quickly walked into another fifth year, whose head was also down. His messy, raven haired head. "Ok, Lily." she thought, "Just disengage. Polite Pettiness. Channel Mom's passive-aggressiveness."

Well, that's what she was thinking. Until he said "sorry, love", and he smiled and then she was pretty sure everything became alright with the world, just for that smile. She was just the right level of tipsy for that smile. It was sincere, and there was a little twinkle in his eye that she really didn't mind, even though she knew it meant trouble. She did the very reasonable thing of smiling back.

And all of the sudden, the smile vanished, replaced with a look of worry. "I, uh, I, I'm" he started to sputter. His hand flew up to his already wild hair. She wondered what it would be like to have her hands in it. He had to apologize for this year. Looking at her smirking, in her muggle clothes, as if to say "if you've got a problem, get ready for a knuckle sandwich", he was having trouble forming words.

"I'msorryI'vebeensomuchofatitthisyear" he said, then finally took a deep breath, not realizing he had been holding his. "Was that English, Potter?" She replied, laughing a bit. He could listen to that laugh forever.

"Oh, um, no. Not really. What I meant to say was 'I'm sorry I've been so much of a tit this year.'" He said, finally relaxing a bit. "Oh, cool. Yeah. You're forgiven." She said, smirking again.

He intended to start walking away right then, but it seemed his feet were planted, so he just blinked a few times. She just walked away, smiling into the bundle of clothes which had formerly been her uniform.