A/N: I don't own HP. OBVS! All the credit goes to the queen writer, JK. Actually, not a writer, a Khalessi. Also I know that in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the title of my story is used somewhat ironically, but I'm using it (cliché as it is), because I like it! So uh... yeah.
Preface
You know when you look back at yourself one year, two years, three years, before? The things on paper are unchanged, your hair and eye color, the names of your parents, usually your best friends. If you stop to think about it, maybe you will actually realize what's actually changed, whether you've learned a little thing like a new word, or a big thing like realizing you're in love. It's difficult to stop and pick out these individual things that develop you as a person. The saying "people never change" is silly, because we're always changing, you just have to consider that every little thing counts. Lily Evans never stopped to look at how she'd changed over her final years at Hogwarts, neither did James Potter, and both transformed, in entirely different ways.
Everything Will Be Fine
Lily stared at the ceiling, contemplating the Prophet article she'd just threw on the floor. Voldemort had struck again, or at least his Death Eaters had, this time in a small Muggle town north of London. At least fifty Muggles were dead. Fifty! Lily blinked hard, forcing herself to maintain calm, but this could happen to her family. As the only witch in a completely Muggle family, they could easily be targeted. Considering Lily wasn't old enough to perform magic outside of Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore had assured that all Muggle-Born's houses would be magically protected. These were dangerous times, and Dumbledore had made sure his students and their families were safe. Lily wasn't exactly sure if Dumbledore himself at performed these protective charms, or if he sent another professor, but she liked to think it was Dumbledore. Lily tried to cheer herself up by imagining Dumbledore outside on her very Muggle street, in his usually vibrant colored robes, jumping a hopscotch her nine year-old neighbor made, simply because it seems like something Dumbledore would stop to do . Lily then pictured Dumbledore donning Muggle clothes, and a ridiculous image of Dumbledore wearing a Tuxedo entered her thoughts, and the fact that Dumbledore wearing Muggle clothes was harder to imagine than hopping down the street, produced a small chuckle.
Lily's thoughts, however, quickly returned to the mass Muggle bloodshed. This wasn't the first time that Voldemort had struck a massive amount of people, and it wouldn't be the last. Oh, but Voldemort doesn't consider Muggles and Muggle-borns human, so the slaughter of fifty people means nothing to him, Lily thought angrily.
Lily's thoughts were interrupted by a sharp rap on her bedroom door.
"Lily." It was her older sister, Petunia, who said her name with a slight undercurrent of contempt. Petunia was jealous of Lily's magic, but she would never admit this, and instead treated Lily like a disease, usually referred to her as "Freak," instead of her name.
"Come in." Lily said airily, desperately trying to achieve a nonchalant tone. Quickly Lily brushed her fingers beneath her bottom eyelashes, just in case a few frustrated tears had slipped out.
Petunia opened the door slowly, her long neck peering in first, before fully entering. Petunia was blonde and thin, and in Lily's opinion, very pretty, despite her stern face and slightly buggy eyes.
"Dad would like you to come downstairs for breakfast; he's been cooking for a while." Petunia informed Lily, a little snappish, like Lily should have guessed instead forcing Petunia to retrieve her.
"Dad's cooking? Oh, dear." Lily replied, attempting to get a smile out of her elder sister. Lily somewhat succeeded, a sort of grimace flitted across Petunia's features, and encouraged, Lily hopped off her bed to join Petunia.
The kitchen was a right mess, with newspapers and other miscellaneous items strewn about the table, a load of dirty dishes in the sink, and an overflowing bin. Petunia clucked when she entered, and started to clear the table off, muttering under her breath, something along the lines of, "It's not too difficult to clean- terribly embarrassing- disgusting."
Lily looked at her father, standing at the stove, manning two separate spatulas, one for eggs, the other for bacon. Smiling slightly at the sight of her Muggle father brandishing spatulas like wands, Lily walked up behind him, giving him a small squeeze of a hug.
"Morning, Dad." Lily said softly.
Mr. Evans whipped his head back, "Morning Lils!" he said, in a falsely bright voice, attempting cheerfulness to combat Lily's understanding sympathy. Henry Evans was a tall, thin man, completely grey-haired (although it used to be blonde like Petunia's), and his eyes were bright green, similar to Lily's, without the signature almond shape. Mr. Evans was forcing cheerfulness on this early morning, for it was September 1st, and not only was his daughter leaving for school, but it was the one-year anniversary of his wife's death. Felicia Evans was a bright woman, she shared Lily's dark red hair, although it had greyed in the last few years of her life. Mrs. Evan's died from breast cancer, and struggled with it for two years before it claimed her. Most of Lily's fourth year was spent worrying about her Mum, and looking up potions or charms that could save her. Nothing could be done however, because witches and wizards required by law to refrain from any magic on or for a Muggle, and Lily, despite her aptitude in potions and willingness to break the law, was simply too young to save her. Mrs. Evans death wasn't unexpected, they knew it would only be a few more days, so Lily had stayed home from Hogwarts for the first week of fifth year.
Mr. Evan's picked up the frying pan of eggs and waved it around, looking for a plate. Petunia, donning bright yellow rubber gloves with the plan to wash them, tutted and slipped them off. Lily went to grab a plate, but Petunia beat her to it, and she retrieved three plates and forks. Mr. Evans hummed gratefully as he tipped scrambled eggs onto each of the three plates.
"So... Dad. Are you alright? I could miss the first few days of school if you want." Lily suggested tentatively, hoping for the opposite. Lily hated missing classes.
"I'm fine Lilykins. Please stop looking at me like that." Mr. Evans requested.
"I'm not looking at you in any way! I'm just concerned, that's all." Lily replied quickly.
"Give it a rest Lily." Petunia unexpectedly demanded, once again surprising Lily with using her actual name.
They ate in a somewhat awkward silence, broken only by the scratch of forks on plates, and their crunches of Mr. Evan's, slightly burnt, bacon.
After breakfast, Lily retreated upstairs to retrieve any last things for school, and Petunia meticulously cleaned the kitchen. Finally ready to leave, Mr. Evan's loaded Lily's large trunk into the car, and made his way to the front driver's seat, leaving Petunia and Lily alone.
"Well, goodbye Tuney. I hope you have a good year." Lily said, ignoring Petunia's flinch at the use of her old nickname.
"Bye." Petunia replied shortly.
Lily considered leaning in for a hug, but at the look of forced calm on Petunia's face, quickly thought better of it.
Somewhat Fresh Start
King's Cross Station was bustling, and after a long, hug with her Dad, Lily pushed her trolley through, in search of a familiar face. She was greeted by Mary MacDonald, a fellow Gryffindor sixth-year, her grey eyes sparkling in excitement, and black hair trailing after her as she jogged over.
"Lily!" she squealed.
"Hi, Mary! Have a good holiday?" Lily responded, with somewhat less enthusiasm, but enough to placate Mary's expectations.
"Amazing! I went to France with my parents, but I was able to ditch them for a bit, and I met the most amazing guy!" Mary gushed.
"Sounds great. What's he like?" Lily questioned, knowing she wouldn't be required to talk for a while.
Mary chattered on while they loaded their trunks, unperturbed by Lily's lack of response. As they walked through the station, Lily noticed the Marauders sitting on their trunks, looking thoroughly unperturbed to the fact the train was leaving in a few minutes. James Potter, looked to be in a serious discussion with his friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Good, Lily thought, he won't notice me. Lily's wish was ignored, however, because Potter turned around just as she walked by. To Lily's surprise, he didn't antagonize her, or ask her out, but gave her a quick smile, and a small wave. Before Lily could stop herself, she smiled back.
Mary looked at this exchange curiously, "Wel,l that was weird!" she commented, looking nonplussed.
"It's only a matter of time Mary. I'm sure he'll be back to his usual antics soon." Lily answered, confused herself, but reluctant to admit she didn't mind James Potter smiling at her.
Once on the train, Lily and Mary parted ways; Lily went to the prefects compartment, while Mary set off to find their other friends. Lily slipped into the Prefect's compartment, a little nervous, seeing as she missed the first meeting last year, on the account of her mother's death. Even though Lily knew everyone, and worked with them all last year, she still felt a little uncomfortable. The door slid open with the last prefect, Remus Lupin, whom Lily was friends with, despite his status as a "Marauder."
"Remus," Lily sighed with relief, giving him a quick hug.
"Hello, Lily. How are you?" Remus replied, a slight look of concern in his eyes.
"I'm fine!" Lily answered, almost defiantly. "And you?" Lily questioned, an almost identical look of concern in her bright green eyes.
Lily asked this because Lupin looked more tired than usual, if that was possible, and somewhat somber. Remus mimicked her previous response to his concern, and added, "But I'm sure we're all a little shaken after that attack last night." Lily nodded grimly, but before she could respond, the Head Boy and Girl entered, and Lily let the conversation drop.
James Potter sat on his trunk, in the middle of the platform, and his three best friends mimicked the action. The platform was swirling with students and parents, but James only had eyes for one. Sirius, noticing how distracted James was, snapped loudly in front his eyes.
"Anyone alive in there?" Sirius joked, ignoring James's hit to his shoulder, and mutterings including something along the lines of "fucking git."
"Seriously though? What's up? Is it Evans? You gotta forget about her, mate. You're fighting a losing battle there." Sirius advised.
James didn't reply. Remus looked up at the mention of Lily, and out of concern for both his friends, said, "Hey James, take it easy on Lily today. Just don't ask her out or anything."
"Why not? Well, I know I said to lay off, but why no bothering today?" Sirius inquired.
"Remus sighed his best exasperated sigh. "Just don't, alright? James?"
But James wasn't listening, he spotted Lily ahead, walking with Mary MacDonald. Taking Remus's advice to heart, James didn't get up to talk to her, no matter how much he wanted to. This was the moment. He was going to treat Lily like anyone else, well maybe not anyone else, but he wasn't going to drive her nuts anymore. Well, he would try. Giving Lily a small smile, he waved, hoping that she didn't actually hate him, even though she'd made it quite clear last year, that she did.
Sirius looked at his best friend, and wondered if he'd ever actually give up on Evans. Well, she'll come around someday, I suppose, Sirius thought. Figuring he had enough of James's pining, Sirius stood up, stretching his arms lazily. Noticing two fifth year Ravenclaw's looking at him, he winked, pleased at their surprised giggles.
"Prongs. Let's pull a prank on the train. It's tradition." Sirius suggested, attempting to get James's attention away from Lily.
"It's not tradition, we've only done it once before. Anyway, I don't really feel like it." James answered cheekily.
Peter laughed, and Sirius, forgetting Peter was even there, said, "Oh come on, Pete! Give me some support here. I know you aren't gonna refuse a good prank."
Peter looked between James and Sirius, as if judging who deserved his agreement more. While Peter contemplated this, Remus stood, "Well, you're gonna have to count me out boys. I've got the Prefect meeting."
"Party pooper!" Sirius taunted, and he turned to James, "Well, any ideas Prongs?"
James rolled his eyes (looking dangerously like Lily), and reluctantly got up from his trunk.
"Okay, I think I have an idea. Even though I said I didn't feel like it Padfoot. Let's get on the train so we can discuss it in peace."
The four Marauders boarded the train, Lupin parting from them to attend his meeting, and found an empty compartment- the same compartment they had for the last three years actually, other students tended to avoid it.
Lily tuned out while the Head Boy and Girl discussed the coming year, usually she'd attentively listen to speeches like this, but she wasn't in the mood today. She couldn't stop thinking about the 50 people that died the night before, it could have been her Dad. Imagining life without her Dad, as her Mum was already gone, made Lily's stomach drop. A feeling of dread washed over her, he wasn't safe, nor was Tuney, they could never be safe, and it was her fault, she was a Muggle-born witch. Lily felt like there was no air in her lungs, she took a big deep breath, trying to calm herself, but it came out more like a gasp for air. Remus looked over at her at the sound, a questioning look in his worried eyes, but she just shook her head in response, whispering, "I have to use the loo, be right back."
Lily quietly stood, and all the other people in the compartment looked up at her. Making a gesture that Lily associated with going to the bathroom to the Head Boy and Girl- finally giving Remus a reason to crack a smile, she slipped out of the compartment as quietly as possible. Lily didn't realize how heavy she was breathing until she actually made it to the toilet. Lily locked herself in the stall, and resting her head on the wall, she tried to figure out what the fuck was wrong with her. Get a grip Lily, she thought. Lily remained in the bathroom for the rest of the Prefect's meeting, missing a Marauder prank, resulting in one very dramatic slap, and a sort of brawl, taking place outside of the very lavatory Lily found herself in.