AN: Hi, hullo, hola, aloha, hey. Welcome to my first multi-chaptered (and Marauder era) fic. I wish I could say that this plot bunny has been brewing for quite some time but that would be a devilish lie. Quite frankly, inspiration struck in the form of the first sentence while indulging in a bowl of Peanut Butter Crunch and I immediately let the words spill out onto my iPad. Now, here we are. I know this chapter is a little short but I think it feeds the purpose for setting the tone of EA. Also, I will be intermingling a handful of OCs into Exordia, so if that isn't your thing, suck it up. They will be brilliant and you will love them (because you love me). Enjoy!

(As with any fic, reviews are cupcakes baked with rainbows and smiles and we should all eat them and be happy. Don't forget to indulge the author!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It owns me.

xxx

Lily Evans was about as different from her older sister, Petunia, as one could be. Lily, to start, had striking red hair that blazed in an eternal glory down towards the middle of her back. It was sleek and shiny and smelled of warm vanilla shampoo on any given day.

Petunia had blonde hair. Just blonde, a bit ashy in colour, and styled in a bob. It smelled of nothing in particular.

Lily's eyes were the colour of polished emeralds set beneath a fan of thick lashes and two perfectly arched eyebrows. They were full of wonderment and curiosity and life. People always seemed to notice (and remember) Lily's eyes.

Petunia's eyes were blue. Just blue. Her lashes weren't thick, nor her eyebrows arched, and the wonderment had left her eyes years ago. No one ever noticed or remembered Petunia's eyes.

Lily was outgoing, a chatterbox, with a wonderfully vivid imagination and a certain proclivity for enchanting a crowd. She had many friends.

Petunia was deeply reserved and found imagination to be an inconvenience, that is to say, she much preferred reality. Petunia had only one friend.

But the real clincher, the big difference-and reason for writing this story-is that Lily Evans was a witch. A real, bonafide witch. She had a wand and spell books. She attended a boarding school for other witches and wizards called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She could charm a trunk to levitate in midair and transfigure a rat into a wine goblet. Petunia, however, was not a witch (though this did not stop her from sending a letter to the Hogwarts headmaster, begging to attend Hogwarts with Lily). In fact, if it weren't for Petunia being completely and utterly ordinary, she probably would have been nothing at all. And it was this fact that had her in a boiling mood on the day our story begins. For you see, ladies and gentlemen, Petunia Evans was jealous.

"I'm not jealous," the older sister spat at the redhead's retreating back. "You're a freak that goes to a freak school with other freaks and I think it stinks we're related at all!"

For the 3rd time that morning, Lily Evans rolled her eyes. "Of course you're jealous, Tuney. You've only been making a scene on the 1st of September every year since I was 11. I'm 17 now and you're still making a scene. But no, you're right, definitely not jealous. Now bugger off, I have to finish packing my school trunk."

Petunia sniffed haughtily and thought to contradict Lily (she was not jealous) but decided against it. Instead, she left the bedroom they shared in favour of the kitchen to pack a snack for the journey to King's Cross (Petunia spent a lot of time in the kitchen, rehearsing for when she would become a housewife. A perfectly ordinary thing to do). Lily felt her older sister's presence evaporate and sighed in relief. Godric, she loved her sister, but Petunia was more than she could take at the moment. Her plate was already heaping full and her school year had not yet even started!

Placing all of her school and some of her personal books in her trunk, she took a moment to run a hand over her copy of Hogwarts, A History. She had read the book front to back no less than 7 times in her life. Whenever she felt manic or under the weather, she would sit in the window of her dorm or bedroom and crack open the heavy book's pages. Reading was better than any pepperup potion and she was glad to have found this out early on. She didn't much like the taste of pepperups. She thought to steal a few pages worth of reading before leaving for King's Cross, but Lily knew not even reading could quell her nausea. It was the nausea she felt every time she stole a peek at the thing lying on her bedside table, the thing that had left Lily's plate so full to begin. It had become a pebble in her shoe.

With her books all packed away neatly, Lily stood and crossed the room to her table and picked up the offending object, letting her eyes sweep over what she had already memorized. At a glance, it seemed innocent enough: a piece of parchment addressed to her and proudly embossed with the Hogwarts crest. It was a letter, written with an elegant flourish in a brilliant shade of blue. But the part that made her stomach flutter, made her wish her seventh and final year at Hogwarts was not even happening at all, was what the elegant script had to say.

Lily Evans had been selected…as Head Girl.

Oh, you would think this would be a victory. Head Girl! Think of the privileges, the way it would look on job resumes! It showed she could be trusted with and handle huge amounts of responsibility! She should be grateful for the opportunity! (that is what her parents had said, anyway). But instead, Lily was completely crestfallen. Not because she didn't want to be Head Girl, she certainly did! For 6 years, it was her dream (because of the privileges! how it would look on a job resume! she could be trusted with and handle huge amounts of responsibility! she would be grateful for the opportunity!).

No, what was keeping her from celebrating, what made her stomach lurch forward whenever she thought about it, was that James Freaking Potter had been named Head Boy and would ultimately be her partner throughout the year. JAMES. POTTER. Who had never even been a prefect! James Potter, who was 1/4 of the rowdy, trouble-causing Marauders. James Potter, who had bullied her ex-best friend, Severus Snape, and asked her out, all in the same breath. James Potter, who was an arrogant toerag and would more than likely make her very last year at Hogwarts-

"Lily! Lily, it's 9am! If we don't get a move on soon, you'll miss the train!"

-a living hell . Another sigh but no relief.

"I'm almost finished, Mum!" Lily called back. She placed the piece of parchment back on her table, facedown, gathered her toiletries from off her bed, and tossed them in her trunk on top of her books. There. She was all packed.

"About time, too. Mum and dad have ants in their pants about seeing off their Head Girl at the station. Not that it matters much about being Head Girl at a school for freaks." Petunia had reappeared in the doorway, arms crossed, and a look of condescension etched into her face. Lily, however, ignored her snarling sister and-using her wand-magicked the trunk to lock shut. Being of age in the Wizarding World gave Lily a huge advantage and she used every opportunity she could to piss her sister off. And, as predicted, the redhead could hear her sister's disapproving grunt behind her. A small smile played around Lily's lips.

Jealous.

xxx

"I. Am. So. Proud. Of. You." With each syllable, Mrs. Evans squeezed Lily a bit tighter than before til finally-

"Mumican'tbreathe."

Reluncantly, Mrs. Evans released her youngest daughter and looked her up and down through watery eyes. "Bill," said Mrs. Evans to her husband, "look at her. Our little girl, our little Lily Pad, off to her last year at school as Head Girl." She beamed brightly and Mr. Evans nodded in agreement.

"Yes, Celeste, it certainly is something." (Mr. Evans was a man of very few words but his wife usually said enough for the both of them.)

Lily shifted awkwardly on her feet and hoped the gushing would be over soon. It was one thing when her mum went on and on about her getting Head Girl all summer and on the car ride over. It was certainly another now that they were standing about on Platform 9 ¾, in front of her peers.

"I'll just go put your trunk in your compartment," said Mr. Evans, and he started towards the train, trunk in tow. Lily smiled at him gratefully and turned towards her sister, who had been standing stonefaced behind their mother.

"So," Lily began. "I guess I'll be home for Christmas." Petunia said nothing. "You'll write to me, won't you, Tuney Salad?"

Her sister tutted at the nickname. She hated when Lily called her Tuney Salad, but she could feel herself softening up a bit. She rolled her eyes in mock (rather, partial) aggravation and crossed her arms.

"Only if you promise to bring a few dozen sugar quills round when you come home."

Lily smiled and playfully punched Petunia on the arm. "Course I will. Mum will give me spending money, won't you mum?"

"If she doesn't, I will." Mr. Evans had reemerged from the Hogwarts Express and spun Lily around to face him. "Your trunk is in the first compartment on the right. A young Mr. Potter informed me that you'd better get a move on. You have an obligation to attend to, apparently. Something about you being Head Girl. When did they make you Head Girl?"

"Daaaad."

Mr. Evans smiled and kissed Lily on the forehead. "This damned enchantment that lets us through that blasted barrier will be wearing off soon, anyway," he said matter-of-factly. Then-more softly-added, "Have a good year, Lily Pad."

He turned back to the rest of his family and ushered a blubbering Celeste and neutral Petunia towards the secret barrier between Platforms 9 and 10. Lily could feel the tears forming in her eyes as they disappeared through but she bit them back as quickly as they came. She would not let James Potter see that she had cried.

"I'll do my best, daddy," she whispered. Then with a deep breath, Lily Evans boarded the Hogwarts Express and joined James in the compartment reserved for the Heads.

"What a heartfelt display, Evans," James Potter said sardonically, as the brilliant redhead settled into her seat."I might even have a toothache now after that."

Huffing and folding her arms, but otherwise ignoring him, Lily pulled out Hogwarts, A History in order to avoid making eye contact with the git across from her.

Godric help her keep her sanity intact this year.