Lily Evans sighed as she leaned against the train window. It was hard to believe that she would be Head Girl. Not to mention that it was her last year at Hogwarts. Lily smiled slightly to herself. At least her boyfriend, James Potter, was the Head Boy. Lily didn't know what she would have done if that creepy Slytherin Severus Snape had been her partner. Even though Lily was glad that James was Head Boy, she didn't understand how he had gotten that position in the first place; not to mention two years of prefect before that. James and his other three friends, the 'Marauders' as they called themselves, were known throughout the school as pranksters.

As if her was reading her thoughts, a certain messy black haired boy tumbled into the compartment. He stood up to brush himself off properly, but was slammed into the floor instead. Three other figures were piled on top of him.

"Sorry Prongs ol' pal," Sirius called out cheerfully as he got off the pile of boys. Remus and Peter scrambled up as quickly as possible before giving James a hand.

"May I even ask why you guys ran in here?"

The source of the question was Lily's best friend Cassandra. She and Lily were always a striking pair. Lily had amazing green eyes and curly red hair, whereas Cassandra had blue eyes and thick chestnut hair. Not to mention the all-year tan that Lily was always jealous of.

It was a running joke between the six of them for Cassandra to ask what they had been up to. More often then not, she already knew. Cassandra had a special gift that very few people knew about. She could see the future, and sometimes the present. The uncanny thing about it was that everything that she saw would eventually come true. Whether it happened now, in five minutes, or five years; it was bound to happen. Usually Cassandra saw these visions in dreams, but every so often it would come in an intuitive feeling.

Lily looked up from her thoughts to see Cassandra trying to get her attention. Cassandra mouthed "Snape" and winked. Lily tried to cover her smile; she always loved to watch Cassandra tease the boys, especially Sirius.

"Well practically everyone in the school knows we hate Snape," began James as he sat down next to Lily. "Think of how amusing it would be if he was instantly wearing his least favorite colors…"

"Of red and gold," Remus concluded. Lily and Cassandra looked at each other, eyebrows raised. They were still a bit lost to how the prank had been played.

"What those idiots are trying to say," Sirius started to explain as he unsuccessfully tried to pull Cassandra into his lap. "Is that we basically put a spell on his comb so that it put red and gold streaks in his hair. As he was fixated to a mirror, attempting to get his hair back to normal, we turned his robes red. To top it off, there was a message on the back in gold letters saying: Gryffindors will outdo a Slytherin everyday in anything. Took him a while to notice, but he was mad as a hornet when he did."

Lily and Cassandra couldn't keep up the act any longer. They burst into laughter, only to be interrupted by the witch with the cart a few minutes later.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lily glanced at her watch as she absently stroked the black head of hair in her lap. It would be another hour or so until they got to Hogwarts. Lily yawned as she leaned back against the seat. Surely it wouldn't hurt to take a short nap. Peter was off in the loo. Remus and James were asleep, the latter with his head in her lap. Sirius and Cassandra were probably off snogging somewhere. Those two had a really weird relationship. Usually they were 'just friends', but Lily and James had caught them snogging on a few occasions. Lily yawned again, resting her head on the window, thinking that nothing bad could happen on their way to Hogwarts.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It seemed like Lily had closed her eyes for only a moment when the train came to a sudden halt. Lily found herself on the floor, amidst a pile of robes, arms, and black hair. She smiled as James rolled on top of her by accident. The door opened abruptly as Cassandra and Sirius stumbled inside the compartment.

"Is everyone alright?" Remus asked calmly.

Everyone nodded except Lily, who mumbled something incoherently.

"What was that Lily?" questioned Cassandra.

"I said that I'll be fine once James gets his bloody heavy self off me."

James hastily got off, with a quick kiss and apology to Lily.

Sirius looked at the pair strangely, "Do I even want to know what you two were doing on the floor? You weren't even alone for Pete's sake."

Lily and James both turned a bright red as they assured Sirius that they HAD NOT been doing what he was referring to. Remus added that he could almost have been considered a chaperone, not that he would want to watch them snogging or anything like that. Lily added that they had landed that way when the train had come to its sudden halt.

Sirius looked as if he was about to make another suggestive comment, but stopped when he noticed that Cassandra had gone all pale.

"Its them," she whispered hoarsely, with eyes that seemed to be transfixed on a far off place. "They want to show off their growing power. The attack hasn't been authorized by you-know-who. They have dementors." Cassandra dropped into a dead faint as Sirius caught her.

The four looked at each other, unable to speak. Lily was the first to come to her senses. "Remus, you go and tell the driver what is happening -I mean what is coming. Sirius go send an owl to Dumbledore right now. James will make an announcement for everyone to stay calm and alert the prefects. Then he will help me to make portkeys so that the younger ones can get away as soon as possible. Everyone be prepared to fight."

No one questioned Lily's authority; they just did what they were told. James promptly whispered a spell. Moments later, his voice was magnified throughout the train. "Attention students, there is no need to worry. We have been stopped for a moment due to technical difficulties. Prefects please be aware that we have a code black situation, and stay with your charges. Thank you."

Lily searched through her trunk to find little articles that could be used for the portkeys. Finding a pack of muggle playing cards, she went to work. James came to help and had finished nearly half the deck, when the lights went out.

"The Dementors," murmured Cassandra, who had just regained consciousness. "James, besides you who else can make a patronus?"

James paused for a moment, "Remus, and two Ravenclaws I know, but that's it. Lily can too, on a good day." He then took a glowing stone out of his pocket for them to see by.

"James," Lily rushed hurriedly as screams were heard on the other end of the train, "you need to get the portkeys to the prefects."

"What about you and Cassandra?" he asked, clearly worried.

"We'll be fine," Lily assured him as she pushed him out the door. "I'm not Head Girl for nothing you know."

"Lily, you lied," Cassandra accused after James was gone. "You know that you might be able to handle a Death Eater for a little, but a Dementor…"

"Don't tell me what I can or can't handle," Lily snapped.

She continued making more portkeys in silence for a few minutes. "Sorry San, I don't know what got into me."

"Don't talk," Cassandra replied huskily. "They're getting closer."

Lily pointed her wand to the door, in an attempt to be ready when the time came. As if something sensed her movement, the door creaked open. Lily shivered and froze. A dementor slowly entered, appearing as a patch of darkness in the dimly lit room.

Lily tried to think of a happy memory. Her Hogwarts letter, no…first perfect test, no…first kiss with James, that might work. Lily took a shaky breath as she focused on that memory. "Expecto Patronum!"

The dementor stopped for a brief second as a wispy silver stream glided out of her wand. Her Patronus wasn't strong enough, and Lily knew it. She was about to try again when the meager Patronus that she had managed to produce, faded.

Lily sunk to the ground as voices began to echo in her head.

"I'm sorry Ms. Evans," Professor Dumbledore told her sadly. "There has just been another muggle attack. I regret that it's my duty to inform you that the victims were your parents,"

"No!"

"I'm truly sorry Ms. Evans. You'll have to stay here tomorrow instead of taking the train to Kings Cross." Professor McGonagall stated.

"We don't know if You-Know-Who will try to get your sister, and you if you return," added Dumbledore.

"Do you need help getting back to your sixth year dormitory?" her house head asked kindly.

"No." Lily stumbled out of Dumbledore's office blindly, tears streaming down her face.

Far away she heard voices calling her name. Slowly the calls became louder. The room began to focus as blurred faces appeared over her head.

"Lily, oh Lily," James murmured as he brushed the hair out of her face. "Wake up… wake up, please Lily. Remus has some chocolate for you."

Lily struggled to sit up as her vision began to clear. James helped her lean against him as she sat upright on the floor.

"What happened?" Lily managed to ask through her mouthful of chocolate.

James looked at her, eyes full of concern. "You tried to take on a Dementor. But you couldn't handle what it showed you."

"How do you know what it showed me?"

"Lils," James sighed. "You were sobbing hysterically and muttering about how it was all your fault. Which it wasn't."

"Lily you have James to thank that you're still alive," Cassandra added her voice gentle. "That thing was reaching for its hood when he came."

Lily nestled even closer to James, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that her friends weren't telling her something. "The Death Eaters are still here aren't they?"

Remus's face looked pained as he handed her another piece of chocolate. "Yes," he answered simply.

"Doing their best to blast the bloody train to pieces," muttered Sirius.

"Everyone else got to Hogwarts safely," Remus continued as if Sirius had never interrupted. "We need to hold them off until the Aurors arrive."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Lily asked as she slowly got to her feet. "For all we know, they're after someone or something. Lets make those filthy traitors wish that they'd never been born."

Lily had just picked up her wand when there was a loud explosion. She screamed as glass shattered, falling on them, as the car rapidly rolled onto its side. A large chunk of glass scratched her face as she tumbled to the ground. Visibly shaken, Lily stood up with her wand out, mentally preparing for the worst.

"Reducto," a hoarse voice muttered and was followed by a small blast. The dust settled to reveal two hooded figures outside the car.

The one on the left chuckled. "Has the feisty little mudblood not had enough yet?"

This remark sent James over the edge. He lunged at the figure, only to be held back by Sirius and Remus. "Prongs, we need to stay alive here," his best friend whispered.

The Death Eaters seemed to be enjoying the scene in cruel amusement. "I see our rich little Potter has a soft spot," the taller one mused. He seemed to be the one in charge. "Maybe we can get him to do something foolish," as he said this Lily floated up three feet into the air.

Cassandra and Remus paled; Sirius tightened his grip on James as the boy fumed. "Put Lily down this instant."

"What would you do?" the man sneered. "Tickle me to death?"

"Expelliarmus!"

"Impedimenta!"

"Stupefy!"

Curses flew through the air at once. It was impossible to tell what direction any of them were coming from. In the commotion, Lily was dropped to the ground. She surveyed the scene carefully. Remus and Cassandra were taking care of the lesser Death Eater. Sirius was down on the ground, unconscious. Peter was still missing and James…bloody hell. James was taking on the lead Death Eater by himself.

Things weren't going to well for James. He was bleeding in several places and his left arm looked broken. Noticing Lily, his opponent nodded in her direction as he raised his wand. Lily scrambled forward, as her mind filled with dread. He was going to use as Unforgivable Curse on James, she just knew it. She had help, somehow, someway…

Lily threw all caution to the wind by jumping in front on James the same instant a horrible cry filled the air.

"CRUCIO!"

As the pain hit her, Lily gasped at the force of it. Her whole body felt like it was on fire. Lily screamed as what seemed like white-hot knives pierced every inch of her skin. The pain abated as everything went black.

A/N Well here it is! This is a story that I've had in my head for quite some time. All major happenings have been thought out already (At least I like to think so.) that means that this should have a good plot.

I want to give a super big thank you to my beta and best bud, greeneyes. "Experientia docet." Experience teaches. My pal definitely has more writing experience then me (among a few other things she is better at) so I like to think that I learn from her. What better way to learn then through her being my beta? LOL You might also recognize her as the person that I am collaborating with on a few other stories. (Check them out, our pen name is Soar and Stealth)

Anyway, congratulation if you've made it through this much of my babble. Please review and tell me what you think.

I'll finish up with another Latin quote that I think goes along with my story, 10 house points to anyone who can figure it out.

"Veritatem dies aperit."