Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, as if it were necessary to say it. I thought it was obvious.

Chapter 1— Guilt, Head Boy, and a Confusing Story

The dark sky was streaked with pink and orange. Small dots of purple traced the horizon as a redheaded girl sat, spread out on the grassy slope. The sun was creeping up extra slowly this morning, and the seventeen year old pulled her legs up as she watched it wistfully. Lily Evans tucked an auburn strand of hair behind her ear, sighing. She was staying with her Aunt Rose this past summer. She had the most gorgeous house, with acres of land, and she'd loved coming here as a small girl. However, this summer, she could barely wait for today: September 1st. This had to have been the most miserable summer she'd ever had. It wasn't her Aunt Rose's fault, and Lily would never admit it to her. She'd done her best to try to make Lily feel at home, but it didn't help. Everything reminded her of them. Especially Aunt Rose herself. She was her mother's sister after all. Her parent's deaths were all she could think about lately.

Lily had barely realized that tears were squeezing out of her eyes as she thought of them, and she quickly wiped them away. She refused to cry in front of anyone, but lately, it was all she wanted to do. The worst of it all was she'd been there. She'd watch the dirty bastard kill them! They'd been murdered, murdered by none other then the Lord Voldemort, a crazed dark wizard. Lily shuddered at the thought of him. Lily was a witch, a seventeen year old witch who was about to enter her seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Lily closed her eyes, trying not to think of how the year would be different. Nothing would ever be the same…

What seemed like hours later, and probably was, Lily finally rose up, rather reluctantly. Walking back to her Aunt's house, she found everyone in the kitchen already.

"Hello Lily, dear, how are you?" Aunt Rose said, looking up from her cooking, wearing her usual bright, happy smile.

"Oh…fine," Lily replied tiredly.

"Are you ready? You start school today right?" Aunt Rose asked. Lily nodded and sat down, not feeling very hungry, "What would you like for breakfast?" she asked again. Lily only shook her head.

"I'm not hungry Auntie…I'll just go make sure all my stuff's packed." Aunt Rose gave her a worried look. Her sister, Petunia, just glared at Lily. Unlike Lily, Petunia was tall. Lily wasn't short, but she didn't have the extra inches Petunia's long neck provided. Petunia had thin blonde hair, much different then Lily's pretty, red curly hair. Lily was by far the prettiest of the two. A beautiful figure, gorgeous hair, and entrancing green eyes. This left Petunia always feeling jealous. It was true that Lily had always gotten more attention of the two. It hadn't been Lily's fault, but she'd given up long ago on convincing her sisterof this.

"Aunt Rose, leave her alone…she doesn't need it," Petunia sneered, obviously trying to make Lily feel insecure. Lily didn't even respond.

"Petunia!" Aunt Rose snapped, giving Petunia a glare before turning back to Lily with a worried look. Petunia was skinny, no doubt. She always took part in the latest fad diets. At the moment, it looked like grapefruit. Lily wrinkled her nose at the very idea of just eating grapefruit for weeks. She didn't know how Petunia did it.

"It's alright, I'm just feeling slightly sick," Lily replied quickly. Whoops, wrong thing to say…Aunt Rose was fussing over her for the next twenty minutes until Aunt Rose was convinced she was fine (as well as forcing some toast down Lily's throat). Finally, they left for Kings Cross. Lily would've apperated, but her Aunt had insisted on driving her. Besides, Aunt Rose didn't know Lily was a witch…a slight problem trying to explain how she would get there. Petunia insisted she needed to stay. She had a date with Vernon Dursley, her boyfriend. Lily thought about her boyfriend, Chad Michaels. He had broken up with her last year. He now worked at the Ministry, already out of school. He was a year older and said he had to focus on work or something or another. At the time, Lily had been furious with him. Now…it seemed like such a little thing.

Her aunt was chatting about something unimportant, and Lily wasn't really listening. She was trying to think about what to say to her friends. They wouldn't take it well. She knew they'd give her that look. She hated it. That's all she ever received this summer…the pity gaze. She didn't think she'd survive if her friends did that to her. She just wanted it to be normal again…as normal as it'd ever be.

"Lily?"

"Yes?" Lily asked coming out of her reverie.

"We're here," Aunt Rose said, smiling at her niece.

"Oh right…well, thanks so much Aunt Rose." Lily said, hugging her aunt. Aunt Rose smiled.

"Lily, you'll be alright won't you? Are you going to come home this Christmas? I know that you're getting older, but these holidays might be hard…it's not going to be an easy year Lily—"

"I know Auntie, but I think I'm going to stay at school this year…you know." Lily looked down at her feet.

"Lily…you can always come home for Christmas…"

"I know, but you know that I was only staying this summer? I get to start work next year." Aunt Rose frowned at this. She didn't understand of course, "Don't worry…I talked about with Mum and Dad…before…well," Lily felt her throat tightening up. Her aunt just smiled and hugged her niece tightly once more.

"Of course Lily, will you write to me?" Lily nodded, wondering how she would with owl post.

"Wonderful…your parents told me you were Head Girl…they were so proud of you Lily, so proud…" They shouldn't have been. Lily thought to herself. She'd half forgotten she was Head Girl. Her parents had been fascinated when they found out. Lily settled with one last nod before taking her trunk, disappearing into the crowds without another look behind her.

Gwen Springs was a blonde haired beauty. Her curls laid delicately on her shoulders, her pale blue eyes shinning brightly as she chatted with James Potter, a seventh year Gryffindor.

"Urgh…where is that idiot anyway?"

"He went looking for Moony…I think he's slightly frightened by you—" James replied, ruffling his hair, a charastic habit of his.

"LILY!" Gwen shouted spotting her redheaded friend. James Potter, a boy with jet black hair that was rather untidy jerked his head around. Gwen smirked at him, "Sorry James, I'll catch up with you later. Besides, Black is probably making his way back." Gwen added, referring to James' best mate.

"See you Gwen…" he said staring at the redhead. Gwen shook her head at James before running over her friend.

"Lily! I didn't see you all summer!" Lily gave a tired smile and Gwen frowned, "What's up?"

"Nothing…exhausted. Couldn't sleep all night," that's half the truth, Lily thought to herself. Gwen nodded sympathetically. Immediately, she jumped into a story about her vacation in France. Somehow it involved a French muggle, escaping on the back of his motorcycle while running from the muggle police. Lily smiled, a sincere one now, "How do you get yourself into these messes?" Gwen sighed and gave Lily a slight smirk.

"You know, I just have a thing for guys with motorcycles. By the way, have you seen Alice?" Lily shook her head, "Julie?"

"Nope."

"Ah…well, let's go find them," Gwen said with obvious excitement.

"Sorry, I can't," Lily began. Gwen raised an eyebrow, "I'm Head Girl this year," she explained. Gwen smirked.

"Of course…how could I forget?"

"Uh…I didn't tell you…" Lily suggested.

"Yes, but it was so obvious," Gwen said, waving that away, "Yeah…you barely wrote all summer. What's with that?" Lily shrugged, muttering about being busy, "Right…well, you go do your Head Girl stuff. Find us in our usual compartment, sound good?" Lily smiled and nodded as Gwen bounced off. That girl was always full of energy. As much as you'd think she'd be a dumb blonde by her frequent annoying questions, she was intelligent. Nor was she prissy, something Lily loved about her. She was a hardcore Quidditch player thanks to her older brother, Tyler. He'd taught her a lot, being Quidditch captain when he'd played for Gryffindor before Gwen had came along. Lily stuffed her trunk in the Head's compartment. Alone, she began to wonder who the Head Boy was. Remus Lupin? He was the Gryffindor Prefect and—.

"I can't believe you're Head Boy!" came a voice.

"That's exactly what I said Moony…it's a disgrace!" Lily frowned. She recognized those voices. The first one being Remus Lupin and the second, Sirius Black. The two were both Marauders, the school's notorious troublemakers. Remus was a bit better then the rest of Marauders. She had worked with him as a Prefect. He was the only tolerable one out of them all. There were four of them: Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Lily couldn't stand them. They drove her nuts with their constant pranks, superior attitudes, and resistance to authority (ahem, her as a Prefect). Oh, they also thought they owned the school, not that every girl falling at their feet helped deflate their heads any.

The door opened slightly, and Lily saw the back of Remus' head. His sandy blonde hair was shaking.

"Padfoot leave him alone, c'mon James—"

"Moony, he can't go in there!" said Sirius, dramatically.

"Sirius…" Remus tried again.

"No!"

"Oh Padfoot, it isn't that big of a deal," that was the voice of James Potter. Did Lily mention he was obsessed with her? Yes, creepy, she knew. Perhaps it was a joke of some sort, Lily didn't know how it started, but she turned him down when he asked her out. Then it became his ultimate quest to get her to date him. So far, he'd failed. At that moment, Remus turned around and his eyes widened when he saw Lily.

"Lily," he said in surprise. Lily forced a smile.

"Hi Remus."

"Uh…are you Head Girl by any chance?"

"Evans?"

"Yes," replied Lily, ignoring James, as his head seemed to find it's way inside.

"Evans is Head Girl?" came Sirius' voice, "Wicked…" Lily let out a sigh.

"Potter, Black, this is the Head compartment, and I'm waiting for the Head Boy, so we can begin the Prefect meeting. You need to leave."

"O contraire, sorry Evans." Lily felt her temper rising already. Remus looked as if he were about to say something…

"POTTER GET OUT!" James stared at her.

"We're having the Prefect meeting outside?" James asked, obviously confused. Lily rolled her eyes.

"You're not coming!" James smirked. That stupid one, his hazel eyes sparkled mischievously…

"I am."

"No you're not!"

"Yes I am!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"No—"

"Lily?" Lily glared in Remus' direction, "Uh…James is Head Boy." Lily didn't respond for a moment, then smiled. Remus had an odd sense of humor.

"Right Remus, and Black and I are getting married." The three boys looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"I see how you feel about me now, Evans," Sirius said giving her a roughish wink.

"Uh, Evans, I really am Head Boy," James said grinning. Then he frowned, "So…why'd you go with Padfoot over me?" he asked jokingly. Lily looked to Remus, hoping for him to contradict his friends. Of course, he did no such thing.

"He's not lying," Remus assured her as James had pulled out a Head Boy badge and gave her his grin that melted so many girls' hearts. That is…all except hers.

"Fine…Black, get out of here! You're still Prefect Remus…right?" Remus nodded. Sirius saluted to them all before departing. Lily sighed, rolling her eyes. Then Lily's gaze fell on Potter. He had an odd look on his face. Lily frowned, "I don't know why Dumbledore made you Head Boy. He's really lost his marbles."

"Aw, c'mon Lily. It'll be a fun year…trust me." Lily rolled his eyes. Trust James Potter? Not if her life depended on it. James was still giving her this odd look she couldn't quite place, "Okay, listen, just let me talk. Got it Potter."

"Yep." Lily raised an eyebrow, but before she could say anything she heard loud giggling outside the door. Lily opened it to see Sirius flirting with a Hufflepuff and Slytherin girl. Lily wondered if he knew she was a Slytherin…with the grudges he had against them.

"Hey, get in here." The girls turned and looked at her. Amy Davis, the blonde Hufflepuff flushed. The brunette Slytherin, Marlene Franz, glared at Lily but both girls shuffled in behind her followed by the rest of the Prefects, "Black, go away!" Sirius grinned.

"Aren't you my wife to be—?"

"BLACK!" Sirius just grinned before stalking off. Lily sighed, this was going to be a long year.

"Okay, I think that's it," Lily said finally gazing up at all the Prefects who looked slightly bored. Not that she blamed them, "Just make sure you patrol the corridors and don't let things get out of hand, alright?" Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement, "Good, remember to sign up for patrols! The sign up sheet will be in the Prefect's bathroom." Everyone began to leave. Remus waved at James who said he'd be right there.

"Well…that went well," James said flashing Lily a grin. Lily glared at him.

"Yes, because you didn't say a thing the whole time!"

"You said you'd do all the talking!" James exclaimed. Lily paused, vaguely remembering now.

"And since when do you listen to me?" Lily snapped. James opened his mouth then stopped and grinned.

"Fair point Evans, fair point."

"You're kidding!" Julie Maloney's dark eyes widened. Her dark brown hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and she shook her head, "What was Dumbledore thinking? I mean…Remus is fairly responsible, but Potter?" she crossed her legs, shaking her head although her lips twitched slightly as she held back a smirk.

"I know…ridiculous," Lily said in agreement, "So where's Alice?"

"Making out with Ricky?" Gwen suggested slyly, "Just kidding, she broke up with him this summer..."

"I think she's talking to Frank Longbottom," Julie said grinning.

"Really? He's nice enough…I thought he'd be Prefect…you know, he's not a Marauder and all…" Gwen said thoughtfully. Julie shrugged, "Not to mention a bad kisser," Gwen threw in, having dated him the past year.

"I wonder if she still fancies him," Julie asked absentmindedly. Both Lily and Gwen stared at her, looking shocked. "Uh…you know…you're not still mad about that, are you, Gwen?"

"Mad about what?" Gwen asked, flabbergasted.

"Alice fancying your ex? I mean, when she liked him last year—"

"What? She liked him last year?" Lily interrupted. Julie gave both of her friends exasperated looks.

"Of course! Didn't you all know?"

"NO!" Gwen yelled loudly.

"I thought it was obvious…" Julie said uncertainly. Gwen snorted.

"Really?" Lily asked frowning, "Wasn't she dating…uh…Sirius Black?" Gwen rolled her eyes at that one. Julie nodded.

"Yeah…but she didn't like him, remember? She just went out to…" Julie looked at Gwen who's eyes widened in comprehension. Julie shifted nervously, "You know…because you hated him and…"

"She wanted to make me mad…" Gwen said frowning, "Shit…I didn't even know she liked Longbottom. I wouldn't have gone out with him if I knew that!" Lily looked at her two friends and burst out laughing.

"That's what that stupid fight was over? Merlin!" Lily asked, remembering the huge row between Gwen and Alice the previous year. Julie grinned as well.

"I know, that's what I thought…but I didn't want to take sides…didn't know you didn't know the whole story. You better tell her you don't like Frank anymore…unless…do you?"

"No! I broke up with him after Valentines Day, remember?" Gwen frowned, "Wait, Alice didn't break up with Black until April…then she went out with Ricky?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" Julie rolled her eyes.

"She thought you still liked Frank!" Gwen frowned, Lily was trying not to laugh. Julie sighed, "How did you not know this?" Julie asked again. Gwen only shrugged, "Wow…you all are idiots." Lily burst out into laughter while Gwen looked angry and glared at Lily.

"Yeah…well…Potter's Head Boy!" Gwen spat out. Lily stopped laughing.

"Stop reminding me," said Lily sourly.

"Stop laughing at me," retorted Gwen, sticking out her tongue. Julie shook her head.

"So mature."

"Shut up," both girls said in unison.

A/N: Read and Review please! Thanks a lot!